Artículos de revistas
Measuring social isolation in older adults through Ambient Intelligence and Social Networking Sites
Autor
Wilfrido Campos Francisco
Institución
Resumen
Abstract. Early diagnosis of social isolation in older adults can prevent physical
and cognitive impairment. This diagnosis usually consists on personal and periodic
application of psychological assessment instruments. Unfortunately this is often a
tedious process and therefore this is a situation that opens up opportunities in
creating new ways of diagnosis. In this context, ambient intelligence and social
networking sites are suitable technologies for automatic monitoring of significant
changes in social interactions of older adults. However, current instruments that
measure social isolation are based on subjective aspects since they only evaluate
emotional social support and they do not consider objective aspects. This is the
reason why a prediction model based on objective isolation variables is needed in
order to measure the social interactions through computing mechanisms. This
paper presents the development of a prediction model from the social interaction
activities that can be registered through smartphone's sensory capabilities, the
personal communications using an online social network and also radio-frequency
identification mechanisms. The proposed model will benefit institutions interested
in developing technological solutions to detect early stages of social isolation and
improve the quality of life of older adults.