Contribution of the Living Lab approach to the development, assessment and provision of assistive technologies for supporting older adults with cognitive disorders

Many technology-based products and services have proven to be successful in supporting older adults with cognitive disorders in regard to health and social care, safety, and independent living. However, several barriers to effective design, assessment and provision of assistive technologies in this context have been identified over the last years (e.g., technology acceptance and usability issues, methodological limitations in the assessment process, difficulties to balance the interests of different stakeholders, fragmentation in the field, lack of appropriate models for including assistive technology in global care plans). These barriers are associated either to micro-level factors, pertaining to the individual user, or to macro-level factors, related to a variety of stakeholders and the socio-economic, organizational and infrastructural characStudia Informatica Universalis. Contribution of the Living Lab approach... 35 teristics of the ecosystem. This paper discusses how Living Labs in the sector of healthcare, by promoting user-centered approaches, open-innovation, multi-stakeholder alliances and real-life experimentations, offer the infrastructure, knowledge, services and flexibility to address these issues. After summarizing main barriers to the use of assistive technology by older adults with cognitive disorders, we provide a general description the Living Lab concept and some examples of related national and regional initiatives. Then, we present LUSAGE, a French Living Lab engaged in the design, assessment and deployment of assistive technology solutions for older adults with cognitive impairment, such as Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. LUSAGE’s scope and activities are described in terms of the identification of micro and macro level factors that influence AT development, assessment and provision in this context. Finally, we suggest some promising directions for further development of Living Labs in the field of aging and independent living.