Leader: Tiziana Ferrante (SAPIENZA). Other collaborators: Teresa Villani, Federica Romagnoli (SAPIENZA)
This task involves evaluating existing housing assets to accommodate home healthcare activities. According to a requirement-performance approach, based on ergonomic, logistical, and technical requirements linked to use scenarios for home care, new computer-based design tools will be implemented to conduct multi-criteria assessments. The general objective is to promote therapeutic environments of daily life while preserving their familiar aspect. By verifying that the domestic space satisfies a high level of safety, comfort, and usability, the aim is to foresee any critical issues that can be triggered in case of compromised health and autonomy conditions, guide the technical choices of intervention, and inform the decision-making process.
Regarding the first intermediate goal aimed at defining the needs of older adult home care recipients and their caregivers, the dissemination phase of two questionnaires continued from November to March. The first targeted family caregivers and health and social care professionals to identify the main challenges of home care activities in the person-space interaction.
The second was directed at the Age-It research groups to map the Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) technologies under development to deepen the user-device interaction and their integration into the homes.
To date, devices designed by 13 Tasks within Spoke 9 have been analyzed according to: intended users as direct operators and/or indirect beneficiaries, market diffusion prospects, and spatial characteristics affecting the integrability of the "hard" components.
Concerning the second intermediate goal, focusing on defining the optimal characteristics of domestic spaces for home care, the analysis of 25 case studies of "smart homes for home care" has led to the identification of technological solutions related to the configuration and characterization of spaces and furnishings, as well as the integration of AAL devices. These solutions have been categorized into six classes of requirements: Safety, Comfort, Usability, Aesthetics, Management, and Integrability. Each solution was also examined for its correlation with the following sustainable design principles: flexibility/removability; reversibility; use of materials and products with low environmental impact; minimal intervention; and reduction of energy consumption during the home's operational phase.
For the third intermediate goal, aimed at implementing a BIM-based system to evaluate adaptive intervention alternatives for housing, with Task 1.6 we defined the operational framework of a new tool to simulate the bedroom environment configuration considering the health conditions of two Personas.
Starting from the health condition codification (ICF, ICD) and a BIM model of the bedroom (IFC), the system proposes a series of assistive devices and furnishings following the ISO 9999:2022 classification and checks the fulfillment of spatial requirements that ensure safety, comfort, and usability of the spaces and allow the integration of the selected devices.
Main policy, industrial and scientific implications:
In relation to the expected outcomes from the research activities of Task 1.3, the implications for aging policies involve promoting home adaptation interventions so that the existing housing stock is prepared to accommodate Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) technologies and facilitate home care activities. The anticipated results also aim to simultaneously align measures targeted at making accommodations age-friendly with ongoing policies in the European context (see Renovation Wave Strategy) that encourage housing renovations adhering to principles of sustainability and circular economy.
The articulation of end-user needs requires the industry to develop flexible, reversible, and minimally invasive home care devices and furnishings while also considering the domestic aspect of the dwellings. In this direction, the expected impact includes fostering closer collaboration between manufacturers and designers to create more effective solutions, particularly in terms of customization and integration respecting various configurations and characteristics of the domestic space.
Regarding the implications for architectural design practices, the proposed decision support tool aims to objectively focus, in the preliminary phases of domestic adaptation projects, on the main requirements that enable more effective use of spaces and better integration of AAL devices tailored to the diverse health conditions of the older adult. This tool will allow designers to more accurately evaluate intervention alternatives to support the selection of the best solutions.
Please see the next reporting period.
During the reporting period, the research activities involved the analysis of the results of questionnaires addressed to caregivers providing home care, which made it possible to identify the most impacted environments by the main challenges in the person-space interaction, contributing to the definition of the "needs framework" of the older adult user and caregiver.
With respect to this framework, the optimal requirements (of Safety, Comfort, Usability, Appearance, Management and Integration) of home care spaces were defined through a literature review and the identification of technical solutions (best practices) of configuration, characteristics of spaces and integration of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) devices derived from the case study analysis of "smart home for home care" previously carried out.
These interim results will be useful in structuring "guidelines for adaptability of spaces for home care."
A further research objective concerns the implementation of a BIM-based tool to evaluate intervention alternatives for housing adaptability, starting from the bedroom environment. Concerning this objective, activities carried out in collaboration with Task 1. 6-WP1 (CNR-STIIMA) during the reporting period involved the modelling of use cases with the BIM Authoring Autodesk Revit software and the export of some datasets within the Grasshopper visual programming environment, to enable through the Buildings and Habitats object Model (BHoM), the exchange and correlation of information related to the conditions of the older adult user, the assistive devices needed, and the spatial and technological characteristics of the environment that may condition their integrability.
During the reporting period, activities focused on the development of guidelines for the adaptability of spaces designated for home care, based on the set of requirements (Safety, Comfort, Usability, Aesthetics, Management, and Integrability) of the spaces previously defined through the study of user needs (older adult home care recipients and caregivers).
These guidelines will constitute the first deliverable of WP1, titled “Guidelines for the design of technological interfaces in the built environment with integration of user-friendly devices for the elderly” (M24).
The guidelines focus on the most relevant spaces for home care: entrance, bedroom, and bathroom. For each of these spaces, the following were defined:
Alternative intervention scenarios were then formulated and hierarchized based on their impact, depending on the involvement of furniture, finishes, structural components, envelope, and systems.
For each scenario, the following were outlined: the proposed intervention; the category of intervention (with reference to the Building Code - D.P.R. 380/01); potential historical and landscape constraints; main cost items; and currently available financial incentives.
The proposed design solutions are summarized in a synoptic framework designed to facilitate the selection of the most suitable options based on specific needs and intervention priorities.
Concerning the objective of implementing a BIM-based tool to evaluate intervention alternatives for housing adaptability, starting from the bedroom environment, activities carried out in collaboration with Task 1.6-WP1 (CNR-STIIMA) during the reporting period focused on:
Finally, in December, the conference “Inhabitable Future: Spaces, objects, and intelligent devices supporting aging” was organized. The event was held on December 18, 2024, at the Faculty of Architecture of Sapienza University under the scientific supervision of the PI of this Task.
Scientific publications
Dissemination Events