A first introduction of the eWALL technology in the living room of older adults.

Independent living of senior citizens is one of the main challenges linked to
the ageing population, due to the impact on: (a) the life of the elderly
people, (b) the national health systems, (c) the insurance companies, (d) the
relatives and (e) the care-givers. According to Continua Alliance, lifestyle
management can address 60-80% of all cases of unpredictable cases in the
wellness and pre-illness conditions; thus minimizing the costs for the seniors
and the National Health Systems. From this perspective the European eWALL
project develops and validates an affordable, easy-to-install prefabricated
wall that can be mounted on an existing wall and fade into the background all
ICT technology needed to enable a number of services for the senior citizen.
These services are grouped into the following categories: (a) risk management
and home safety, (b) eHealth and (c) lifestyle management. The evaluation of
eWALL will demonstrate the proof of concept, therefore a stage two evaluation
based on the Stage approach to evolution of telemedicine is performed. The
technology used in the second stage is stable and evaluation is focused on
gaining an initial idea about the potential added value for clinical practice
and possible working mechanisms.

The objective of this study is to investigate the user experience, use, and
potential effect (Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and quality of life) of
eWALL for older adults suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD) and age related impairments (ARI).

The design will be based on an *ABC* design, a cross-sectional prospective
cohort study, where progress from a baseline (A) will be monitored during and
after a two months home-based intervention (B) and at a 2-month follow up (C).

eWALL is a smart home system using a large touch-screen for interaction. The
platform offers various health- and wellbeing services aimed at older adult
with age related impairments and patients suffering from Chronic Obstructive
Pulmonary Disease (COPD). For a period of 6 weeks the eWALL technology will be
installed in the older adult home. After a training moment of 60 minutes the
older adult is free to use the eWALL technology during these 6 weeks. The
current user interface represents a virtual living room and is a composition of
household objects.

The risks associated with participation are estimated to be low because the
participants will be trained to use the platform and the content is based on
evidence based medicine and was developed in consultation with various
healthcare professionals.
Participants will be asked to fill in questionnaires and to invest time to
learn to operate the eWALL platform. This burden and the potential risks
outweigh the potential benefits attained using the platform.