Kinecting frailty: A pilot study on frailty

Abstract

Most elderly people wish to live independently at home, but are at risk of social isolation, inactivity, low mood, falls and increased frailty. To keep them safe at home without unnecessary, expensive hospitalisations we will investigate a new eHealth application using the Microsoft Kinect. This pilot study evaluates user engagement with Kinect when used for remote monitoring in the homes of frail adults and to provisionally validate the system’s ability to detect key “indicators” of health events and states in a home setting. 12 older people in homes for the elderly in Salford, UK will be observed with MS Kinect. User engagement will be assessed via interviews. Health events/states identified by the Kinect will be compared to researcher assessments and user reports.