A context-aware service platform to support continuous care networks for home-based assistance

Abstract

Efficient and effective treatment of chronic disease conditions requires the implementation of emerging continuous care models. These models pose several technology-oriented challenges for home-based continuous care, requiring assistance services based on collaboration among different stakeholders: health operators, patient relatives, as well as social community members. This work describes a context-aware service platform designed for improving patient quality of life by supporting care team activity, intervention and cooperation. Leveraging on an ontology-based context management middleware, the proposed architecture exploits information coming from biomedical and environmental sensing devices and from patient social context in order to automate context-aware patient case management, especially for alarm detection and management purposes. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.