HAPPY AGEING PROJECT: A Home based APProach to the Years of AGEING		Independent living stands for being able to perform autonomously simple daily activities. Most of progressive difficulties, that lead ageing process, involve mental processes and vision; furthermore older people have to be taken in account psychological implications such as the sense of frailness, the fear that something may happen. Despite this difficulty in carrying out the everyday activities due to physical and cognitive age related limitations, nowadays an increasing number of older people are obliged or want to live alone and desire to be independent.
The Objectives		The objective of the project consists on the implementation of a system to monitor daily actions and to support everyday life, keeping into consideration on one hand the principle limitations due to ageing and on the other the need of security of older people. To this extent, the main objectives of the HAPPY AGEING European project are: 1) to prevent the incidence of chronic conditions and to manage such conditions when present, supporting independent living in old age; 2) to develop and integrate a customizable system matching the demand for technology by the elderly with current market supply; 3) to directly involve the end-user in all phases, assessing the user’s expectations and needs, assuring user acceptance of the new system.
The Solution		The three main technical modules are: 1. Lifestyle monitor, capable of recording main activities that take place in the home and compare them with habits of the monitored subject. The aim is two fold: on one hand to remind the user about activities that need to be performed (e.g. taking medicines) and on the other to monitor a lack of activity for an extended period, or to identify unusual behaviors. 2. Navigation assistant, to support user’s mobility in close environment, particularly useful for older people affected by either low vision or difficulties of orientation. 3. Personal assistant, characterized by two main groups of functions: a) support in performing usual common actions (e.g. dialing a phone number), b) support in searching for personal objects lost at home (e.g. spectacles or keys, etc.). HAPPY AGEING system will integrate sensors and technologies available on the market in a whole smart system, able to assure reliability, unobtrusiveness and privacy of the user.
The Consortium		Ab.Acus srl - Italy I.N.R.C.A. (Italian National Institute on Ageing) - Italy Institute of Sociology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences – Hungary Global Security Intelligence - United Kingdom Speed Automazione S.r.l. – Italy Fundaciò Privada Cetemmsa - Spain The Association of Catholic Organizations of Senior Citizens in The Netherlands - The Netherlands
		The Ambient Assisted Living (AAL)Joint Programme is a new joint research and development (R&D) funding activity by 23 European Member States and Associated States with the financial support of the European Community provided on the basis of article 169 of the EU treaty. The overall objective of the programme is to enhance the quality of life of older people and strengthen the industrial base in Europe through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The AAL Joint Programme has the aim to foster the emergence of innovative ICT-based products, services and systems for ageing well at home, in the community and at work, thus improving the quality of life, autonomy, participation in social life, skills and employability of older people and reducing the costs of health and social care.