(ENGLISH VERSION) Do you remember N.E.S.T.O.R.E.? The project to improve the seniors lives is coming to the finish line!

The Project N.E.S.T.O.R.E: we spoke about to you last May, introducing the topic and asking to our readers to participate by answering a questionnaire. Now the international group that has been working on the project since that time is coming to the end. And it involves us again. In the most interesting and pleasant phase. Let’s see how together

THE IDEA

The aging of the population is rapidly growing in the European Union. It is no longer a novelty. Instead, there is a new awareness that modern technologies can help and support more active aging. It is an awareness still to be built, to be experimented. In fact, how is the perception, in the over 55s, about the effectiveness of technological solutions to support the management of their health, in a scenario of global well-being? What is the orientation? And trust?

N.E.S.T.O.R.E., as our readers who have been following us  know, it is an Idea, a Project, which includes qualified Interlocutors and all together, you too with us. We are helping to take a step forward on our journey towards technology at the service of our quality of life: not only health and prevention, but food and leisure, even fun and socializing.

The name is challenging, even Over: Novel Empowering Solutions and Technologies for Older people to Retain Everyday life activities and is developing an innovative, multidimensional and personalized coaching system to support healthy aging characterized by two main objectives:

1) Generate and sustain the motivation in the over55 to take care of their health.

2) Suggest a healthy diet, a personalized program of physical and mental “training”, and care for social interactions, to prevent decline and preserve well-being.
The main concept is to develop the N.E.S.T.O.R.E system. as a friend and a coach able of supporting the individual and his social network.

The “friend” N.E.S.T.O.R.E. understands the emotional state of the user; the coach N.E.S.T.O.R.E., on the other hand, understands the weaknesses of the user and proposes actions and activities aimed at improving and maintaining well-being.
The key element in the innovation of N.E.S.T.O.R.E. it is the design of “paths of interest” able to provide suggestions and services based on user preferences, while ensuring that general well-being and health are maximized.

N.E.S.T.O.R.E. takes advantage of several new multimedia technologies:
1) a discrete and multi-domain monitoring system, which also includes wearable sensors and environmental sensors

2) an intelligent decision support system, which will analyze behavior and provide personalized goals for well-being

3) an active coaching service, developed in a way that allows a conversation, in fact “incarnated” in a physical companion that can take different forms, able to establish multimodal communication channels and involve older people with personalized coaching activities in one or more domains.

The methodological strengths of the project approach are:
1) an in-depth research of users’ needs, through co-design phases

2) the validation of the system, once implemented, in terms of usability, acceptability and effectiveness

3) the development of a sustainable ecosystem involving citizens and stakeholders in the co-production of well-being.

INPUT TO THE PROJECT

For a higher life expectancy and a simultaneous fall in the birth rate, the proportion of people over 65 is growing rapidly in the most developed countries. The forecast for 2030 is that of a percentage of people over 65 above 25%, against a current value of 17.4%.

In general, one lives longer and even if the aging processes involve natural health complications, the desire is to maintain one’s state of autonomy, one’s social relationships and one’s mental and physical well-being. The ongoing demographic change introduces challenges for society and especially for health systems. Careful social and economic policies are needed to tackle this evolution.
Health systems should promote (and actively support) “healthy aging” policies. Adequate attention should also be given to the so-called “Silver Economy”
Technology can play a key role in supporting the needs of population aging. In this sense, the rapid development of ICT, and in particular of mobile technologies, offers an important opportunity for the development of an integrated solution to support active and healthy aging. With the project N.E.S.T.O.R.E. we intend to overcome the limitations of current solutions.
N.E.S.T.O.R.E. aims to support the Healthy Aging process by working on five dimensions considered to be the key to wellness in an integrated approach. Taking advantage of participatory design processes, it intends to create a solution to support the senior population of tomorrow, creating a system that offers personalized itineraries based on the preferences and needs of each user.
As Homer wrote in the Iliad, Nestor was the oldest and wisest of the Greek army at Troy. Objective of the Project N.E.S.T.O.R.E. it is therefore to develop a companion – N.E.S.T.O.R.E. – who, like the mythological Greek hero, can give advice to older people so that they can maintain their well-being and independence.
N.E.S.T.O.R.E. wants to build on solid psychological and behavioral theories, using a global system of sensors capable of keeping several key parameters under control. A smart program based on cloud solutions and a decision support system that can “advise and educate” via a smartphone application or a tangible object.