Open access peer-reviewed chapter

Perspective Chapter: Telehealth Technologies for the Elderly People

Written By

Ahmadreza Shamsabadi, Esmaeil Mehraeen and Zahra Pashaei

Submitted: 01 March 2022 Reviewed: 26 May 2022 Published: 09 September 2022

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.105568

From the Edited Volume

Geriatric Medicine and Healthy Aging

Edited by Élvio Rúbio Gouveia, Bruna Raquel Gouveia, Adilson Marques and Andreas Ihle

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Abstract

Home telehealth technology delivers a telemedicine tool for elder adults to take an active role in the management of their chronic diseases. This study aimed to determine the requirements and applications of home telehealth systems to monitor health parameters of the elderly. Electronic databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science complemented by Google Scholar were searched. This systematic review was conducted based on preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. In this study, 21 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the final review. There were 80 different requirements and 15 types of applications to create a home telehealth system specifically for the elderly. The highest frequency of applications element was related to the “blood pressure” (18%) and the lowest frequency related to items such as blood coagulation (1%) monitoring. Other systems` elements were “alert system” (12%), “information analysis” (12%), smartphone (20%), and internet (23%). Recognizing all used requirements and achieved capabilities may assist in designing more effective systems. They might be expanded at national level to meet the elderly’s needs at a greater scale.

Keywords

  • elderly
  • home care service
  • nursing informatics
  • telehealth
  • system requirement

1. Introduction

The population of elderly is increasingly rising [1, 2]. In 2011, there were about 657 million elderly people in the world, and in 2050, their population is expected to reach about 1.91 billion [3]. Elder adult patients are more affected by multiple acute and chronic conditions and diseases requiring continuous care. This management might be provided by a variety of medical and health professionals in different settings [4, 5]. Over the past few decades, there has been a widespread prevalence of chronic diseases including diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and cardiovascular diseases in elderly, due to increased life period [6]. Among elderly, chronic diseases that occur simultaneously have increased and caused limitation in their physical activities, social interactions, and general health [7]. This will increase the need of long-term care for elderly [8].

Telehealth (also known as remote health) has been defined as intermediations that allow send and receive remote of health data and supplementary information between a patient and healthcare expert(s) to support in the diagnosis and managing of health situation [9]. Telehealth in general refers to several technologies, systems, and applications that could be adopted to provide remote support of health care at home [10]. This requires a set of fundamental functionalities, such as remote consultation and diagnosis, as well as the possibility of data gathering for the monitoring of health dimensions and vital signs (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, and seizure risk). Home telehealth (HTH) is described as “the use of telecommunications by a home care provider to link patients or customers to one or more out-of-home sources of care information, education, or service by means of telephones, computers, interactive television, or some combination of each” [11].

There are several telehealth service delivery models, and each model has different requirements and attributes [12]. Various review studies address information and communication technology (ICT) applications to support elder adult’s telehealth at home. The main focuses of these studies include patient self-management [13], ethical considerations [14], facilitators and barriers to telehealth applications [15], elder adult’s points of view about ICT applications [16], digital technology for aging in place [17], general review of monitoring technologies [18], and telephone application for communication between nurses and elderly [19]. Therefore, it turns out that there is a lack of review studies in the area of home telehealth system requirements for elderly. This study intends to focus systematically on evidences and experiences to determine applications and requirements of home telehealth system for elderly.

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2. Methods

2.1 Aims

This study was to determine the requirements and applications of home telehealth systems to design and development of an effective system for telemonitoring of health parameters for elderly living at home.

2.2 Design

A systematic literature review of evidence and experiences.

2.3 Search methods

An electronic search was carried out in four scientific databases including Scopus, Web of Science and PubMed, Google scholar for English language studies. A researcher with a health information management degree (ARS) designed a Boolean search strategy. Compositions of the following search terms were used:

  1. elderly OR frail elderly OR old adult OR geriatric OR aged

  2. health information management OR remainder system OR wireless devise OR sensors

  3. telemonitoring OR telemedicine OR home care OR home nursing OR home telehealth

  4. (a) AND (b) AND (c)

2.4 Inclusion criteria

The inclusion criteria were original articles describing telehealth systems for monitoring elderly’s health at home published in English language. Only articles that applied a remote monitoring system for elderly living at home were selected and analyzed.

2.5 Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria were studies published in a language other than English, studies published before 2013, studies with no full-text available, and any type of publication other than original article including review papers, conference abstracts, letters, etc. Papers that focused only on those systems aimed to monitor the environmental factors of elderly for remote home monitoring purposes were also excluded.

2.6 Search outcomes

In total, 1727 records were retrieved by searching the formerly mentioned databases. From articles found, first, duplicates were removed. Then, the titles and abstracts were screened by two researchers (SRNK, ARS) conforming to the inclusion/exclusion criteria. In this study, 21 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the final review. The process of PRISMA1 for data collection and analysis was applied (Figure 1).

Figure 1.

The process of PRISMA for data collection and analysis.

2.7 Quality appraisal

The full texts of potentially related article were separately evaluated by the same two researchers independently. Contradictions were solved in consultation with researchers who also examined and authenticated the relatedness of all included articles.

2.8 Data abstraction

Data elements were extracted from selected articles. The extracted criteria were then reviewed by an expert panel including two medical informatics specialists and three health information management specialists who have been involved with other elderly informatics projects. The final classification obtained based on the five researchers’ agreement is presented in Table 1.

First author (Reference)Country/ProjectApplications (Usages)Nonfunctional requirementsFunctional requirementsDevicesCommunication infrastructures
Madigan E [20]Ohio/ Telecare
  1. Blood pressure M*1

  2. Heart rate M

  3. Weight M

  4. Oxygen saturation M

  1. Central database

  2. Guideline and standard observation

  1. Education for the users

  1. Land line phone

  1. Phone line

Rantz MJ [21]Missouri
  1. Blood pressure M

  2. Oxygen saturation M

  3. Blood sugar M

  4. Respiration M

  5. Restlessness M

  1. Central database

  2. Guideline and standard observation

  3. Information analysis

  4. User-friendliness

  5. EPR and PHR development

  6. Applying e-mail

  7. Web-based design

  8. Management of apps

  9. Intelligent performance

  10. System security

  1. Detection of emergency situation

  2. Reminder system

  3. Alert system

  4. Display information for the users

  5. Ubiquitous information access

  1. Bio-medical sensors

  2. Plus-Doppler radar

  3. Camera

  1. Internet

Katalinic O [22]Australia
  1. Blood pressure M

  2. Weight M

  3. Oxygen saturation M

  4. Heart rate M

  1. Guideline and standard observation

  2. Information analysis

  3. User-friendliness

  4. Applying e-mail

  5. Applying videoconference

  6. Applying web portal

  7. Management of apps

  8. System security

  1. Education for the users

  2. Social and emotional support

  3. Personalized services

  1. Intel health guide2

  2. Apple iPod

  3. Broad band router

  4. Smart phone

  5. PC

  6. Web-cam

  7. e-book reader

  1. Internet

Dhillon JS [23]Malaysia
  1. Blood pressure M

  2. Weight M

  3. Physical activity M

  4. Diet tracking M

  1. Central database

  2. Information analysis

  3. User-friendliness

  4. Applying e-mail

  5. Web-based design

  6. Applying videoconference

  7. Applying web portal

  8. Applying video linked

  9. Applying virtual environment

  10. Management of apps

  11. Open and extensible development

  12. Real-time monitoring

  13. Intelligent performance

  14. System security

  15. Make social connection

  1. Education for the users

  2. Reminder system

  3. Alert system

  4. Display information for the users

  5. Ubiquitous information access

  6. Social and emotional support

  7. Motivation creation

  8. Personalized services

  9. Playing remotely game

  10. Creation user profile

  1. Apple iPod

  2. Web-cam

  3. Smart phone

  4. PC

  5. Game controllers

  1. Internet

Vaidehi V [24]India
  1. Blood pressure M

  2. Heart rate M

  3. Respiration M

  4. Body temperature M

  1. Central database

  2. Information analysis

  3. User-friendliness

  4. Data reduction ability

  5. Agent-based design

  6. Intelligent performance

  7. System security

  1. Display information for the users

  1. Bio-medical sensors

  1. Internet

  2. Wi-Fi &Wi-Max

Lamprinakos G [25]Athens Greece/inCASA
  1. Blood pressure M

  2. Weight M

  3. Oxygen saturation M

  4. Blood sugar M

  5. Heart rate M

  6. Physical activity M

  7. Blood coagulation M

  1. Central database

  2. Information analysis

  3. User-friendliness

  4. EPR and PHR development

  5. Web-based design

  6. Guideline and standard observation

  7. Applying web portal

  8. Applying audio message

  9. Applying POP – UP3

  10. Management of apps

  11. UPnP technology4 based design

  12. Real-time monitoring

  13. Intelligent performance

  14. Service-oriented

  15. System security

  1. Education for the users

  2. Detection of emergency situation

  3. Reminder system

  4. Alert system

  5. Display information for the users

  6. Ubiquitous information access

  7. Personalized services

  8. Creation user profile

  9. Social & emotional support

  1. Bio-medical sensors

  2. Smart phone

  3. PC

  4. Activity hub

  5. IoT device

  1. Internet

  2. Wi-Fi &Wi-Max

  3. SMS

  4. Bluetooth

Chung Y-F [26]Taiwan
  1. Blood pressure M

  2. Respiration M

  3. Heart rate M

  4. Oxygen saturation M

  5. Physical activity M

  6. Body temperature M

  7. ECG M

  1. Central database

  2. Information analysis

  3. EPR and PHR development

  4. Applying e-mail

  5. Web-based design

  6. Applying video linked

  7. Management of apps

  8. Real-time monitoring

  9. Intelligent performance

  10. System security

  1. Education for the users

  2. Detection of emergency situation

  3. Reminder system

  4. Alert system

  5. Display information for the users

  6. Ubiquitous information access

  7. Graphical representation of outputs

  1. Bio-medical sensors

  2. Smart phone

  3. PC

  4. Camera

  5. RFID reader

  1. Internet

  2. Wi-Fi &Wi-Max

  3. SMS

  4. Bluetooth

  5. RFID5

  6. 6- Zig bee6

Tseng KC [27]China
  1. Blood pressure M

  2. Physical activity M

  1. Central database

  2. Information analysis

  3. User friendliness

  4. EPR and PHR development

  5. Web-based design

  6. Applying audio message

  7. Applying animated graphics

  8. Management of apps

  9. Real-time monitoring

  10. Intelligent performance

  11. System security

  12. Make social connection

  1. Education for the users

  2. Detection of emergency situation

  3. Alert system

  4. Social and emotional support

  5. Motivation creation

  6. Ease of use for elderly

  7. Graphical representation of outputs

  1. Bio-medical sensors

  2. Smart phone

  3. PC

  4. Motion detector

  5. RFID reader

  1. Internet

  2. Wi-Fi &Wi-Max

  3. SMS

  4. GSM

  5. RFID

  6. Zig bee

Hussain A [28]China
  1. Blood pressure M

  2. Heart rate M

  3. Blood sugar M

  4. Oxygen saturation M

  5. Respiration M

  6. Physical activity M

  7. Body temperature M

  8. ECG M

  9. Galvanic skin response (GSR) M

  10. Electromyogram M

  1. Central database

  2. Information analysis

  3. Web-based design

  4. Applying web portal

  5. Applying virtual environment

  6. Management of apps

  7. Real-time monitoring

  8. Intelligent performance

  9. Using cloud service

  10. Make social connection

  1. Detection of emergency situation

  2. Alert system

  3. Social and emotional support

  4. Personalized services

  5. Graphical representation of outputs

  6. Creation user profile

  1. Bio-medical sensors

  2. Smart phone

  3. PC

  4. Camera

  5. Smart wheelchair

  6. IoT device

  1. Internet

  2. Wi-Fi &Wi-Max

  3. SMS

  4. Bluetooth

  5. GPS

  6. Zig bee

  7. GSM

Palumbo F [29]Italy/ GiraffPlus
  1. Blood pressure M

  2. Heart rate M

  3. Weight M

  4. Oxygen saturation M

  5. Blood sugar M

  6. Physical activity M

  7. Body temperature M

  1. Central database

  2. Guideline and standard observation

  3. Information analysis

  4. Web-based design

  5. Applying videoconference

  6. Applying virtual environment

  7. Management of apps

  8. Open and extensible development

  9. Real-time monitoring

  10. Intelligent performance

  11. Applying cloud service

  12. System security

  13. Make social connection

  1. Detection of emergency situation

  2. Alert system

  3. Display information for the users

  4. Ubiquitous information access

  5. Personalized services

  6. Ease of use for elderly

  7. Data visualization ability

  8. Graphical representation of outputs

  9. Creation user profile

  1. Bio-medical sensors

  2. Smart phone

  3. PC

  4. Web-cam

  5. Motion detector

  6. Camera

  7. Apple iPod

  8. IoT device

  1. Internet

  2. Wi-Fi &Wi-Max

  3. SMS

  4. Bluetooth

Lee J-V [30]Malaysia/ SEHMS
  1. Physical activity M

  1. Central database

  2. Information analysis

  3. Applying virtual environment

  4. Real-time monitoring

  5. Intelligent performance

  1. Detection of emergency situation

  2. Alert system

  3. Display information for the users

  4. Ubiquitous information access

  5. Personalized services

  6. Ease of use for elderly

  7. Graphical representation of outputs

  1. Smart phone

  2. PC

  3. Web-cam

  4. Camera

  1. Internet

  2. Wi-Fi &Wi-Max

  3. SMS

  4. Bluetooth

  5. Phone line

Coradeschi S [31]Sweden/ GiraffPlus
  1. Blood pressure M

  2. Heart rate M

  3. Weight M

  4. Oxygen saturation M

  5. Blood sugar M

  6. Physical activity M

  1. Central database

  2. Information analysis

  3. Web-based design

  4. Applying videoconference

  5. Applying virtual environment

  6. Management of apps

  7. Open and extensible development

  8. Real-time monitoring

  9. Intelligent performance

  10. Android-based

  11. Make social connection

  1. Detection of emergency situation

  2. Alert system

  3. Display information for the users

  4. Ubiquitous information access

  5. Personalized services

  6. Ease of use for elderly

  7. Data visualization ability

  8. Graphical representation of outputs

  9. Creation user profile

  1. Bio-medical sensors

  2. Smart phone

  3. PC

  4. Web-cam

  5. Camera

  6. Apple iPod

  1. Internet

  2. Wi-Fi &Wi-Max

  3. SMS

  4. Bluetooth

Magaña-Espinoza P [32]Mexico/WiSPH
  1. Physical activity M

  2. Heart rate M

  1. Central database

  2. Information analysis

  3. Web-based design

  4. Real-time monitoring

  5. Intelligent performance

  6. Push notification ability

  7. System security

  1. Detection of emergency situation

  2. Alert system

  3. Display information for users

  4. Ubiquitous information access

  5. Data visualization ability

  6. Graphical representation of outputs

  1. Bio-medical sensors

  2. Smart phone

  3. PC

  4. Motion detector

  1. Internet

  2. Wi-Fi &Wi-Max

  3. GSM

  4. Bluetooth

  5. 5- LR-WPAN7

Saponara S [33]Italy
  1. Blood pressure M

  2. Heart rate M

  3. Weight M

  4. Oxygen saturation M

  5. Respiration M

  6. ECG M

  7. Chest impedance M

  8. Medication compliance M

  1. Central database

  2. Guideline and standard observation

  3. Information analysis

  4. User-friendliness

  5. EPR and PHR development

  6. Web-based design

  7. Applying audio message

  8. Open and extensible development

  9. Real-time monitoring

  10. Intelligent performance

  11. Ability to contact HIS9

  12. Applying SNOMED CT10

  13. Applying HTTPS11

  14. System security

  1. Detection of emergency situation

  2. Reminder system

  3. Alert system

  4. Display information for the users

  5. Ubiquitous information access

  6. Personalized services

  7. Graphical representation of outputs

  8. Antinational guide

  9. Use color for notification

  1. Bio-medical sensors

  2. Smart phone

  3. PC

  1. Internet

  2. Wi-Fi &Wi-Max

  3. SMS

  4. Bluetooth

  5. GSM

  6. Zig bee

  7. WLAN8

  8. Ethernet

Ahmed MU [3]Sweden/ SAAPHO
  1. Blood pressure M

  2. Heart rate M

  3. Weight M

  4. Blood sugar M

  5. Physical activity M

  1. Central database

  2. Information analysis

  3. User-friendliness

  4. Web-based design

  5. Real-time monitoring

  6. Intelligent performance

  7. Applying cloud service

  8. System security

  1. Reminder system

  2. Alert system

  3. Display information for the users

  4. Ubiquitous information access

  5. Graphical representation of outputs

  6. Historical summary calculation

  7. Recommendation generation

  8. Medication management

  1. Bio-medical sensors

  2. Smart phone

  3. PC

  1. Internet

  2. GSM

  3. SMS

  4. Bluetooth

de Barros AC [34]Portugal
  1. Physical activity M

  1. Applying video linked

  2. Applying virtual environment

  3. Real-time monitoring

  4. Make social connection

  1. Education for the users

  2. Ubiquitous information access

  3. Social and emotional support

  4. Motivation creation

  5. Personalized services

  6. Playing remotely game

  7. Ease of use for elderly

  8. Use Google TV

  1. Smart phone

  2. Apple iPod

  3. Web-cam

  4. Motion detector

  5. Camera

  6. Game controllers

  1. Internet

Tuna G [35]Turkey
  1. Physical activity M

  2. Body temperature M

  3. ECG monitoring

  4. Galvanic skin response (GSR) M

  1. Central database

  2. Information analysis

  3. Real-time monitoring

  4. Intelligent performance

  1. Display information for the users

  2. Ubiquitous information access

  3. Graphical representation of outputs

  1. Bio-medical sensors

  2. Smart phone

  3. PC

  1. Internet

  2. Wi-Fi &Wi-Max

  3. SMS

  4. Zigbee

  5. LR-WPAN

Abo-Zahhad M [36]Egypt
  1. Blood pressure M

  2. Oxygen saturation M

  3. Respiration M

  4. Heart rate M

  5. Body temperature M

  6. ECG monitoring

  1. Central database

  2. Information analysis

  3. Real-time monitoring

  4. Intelligent performance

  5. EPR and PHR development

  6. User-friendliness

  7. Web-based design

  8. System security

  1. Detection of emergency situation

  2. Reminder system

  3. Alert system

  4. Display information for the users

  5. Personalized services

  6. Creation user profile

  1. Bio-medical sensors

  2. Smart phone

  3. PC& laptop

  1. Internet

  2. Wi-Fi &Wi-Max

  3. SMS

  4. Bluetooth

  5. GSM

  6. GPRS

  7. MMS

  8. Cellular network

  9. Ethernet

Wannenburg J [37]South Africa
  1. Blood pressure M

  2. Oxygen saturation M

  3. Heart rate M

  4. Body temperature M

  1. Central database

  2. Information analysis

  3. Real-time monitoring

  4. Mobile-based design

  1. Detection of emergency situation

  2. Reminder system

  3. Alert system

  4. Display information for the users

  5. Personalized services

  1. Bio-medical sensors

  2. Smart phone

  3. PC& laptop

  1. Internet

  2. Wi-Fi &Wi-Max

  3. SMS

  4. Bluetooth

  5. GSM

Ji L [38]China
  1. Blood pressure M

  2. Respiration M

  3. Heart rate M

  4. Physical activity M

  5. Body temperature M

  1. Central database

  2. Information analysis

  3. Real-time monitoring

  4. Intelligent performance

  5. System security

  1. Detection of emergency situation

  2. Alert system

  3. Display information for the users

  4. Ubiquitous information access

  5. Personalized services

  1. Bio-medical sensors

  2. Smart phone

  3. PC& laptop

  1. Internet

  2. Wi-Fi &Wi-Max

  3. Bluetooth

  4. GPRS

Raad MW [39]Saudi Arabia
  1. Blood pressure monitoring

  2. Heart rate M

  3. Oxygen saturation M

  4. ECG M

  1. Central database

  2. Information analysis

  3. Real-time monitoring

  4. Intelligent performance

  5. User-friendliness

  6. System security

  1. Detection of emergency situation

  2. Alert system

  3. Display information for the users

  4. Ubiquitous information access

  5. Personalized services

  1. Bio-medical sensors

  2. Smart phone

  3. PC& laptop

  4. IoT device

  5. RFID reader

  1. Internet

  2. Wi-Fi &Wi-Max

  3. SMS

  4. RFID

  5. Bluetooth

  6. GSM

Table 1.

Specific extracted data from the given papers.

M* = monitoring.


Intel Health Guide is first product in series designed to enable more personalized care management for chronic and age-related disease.


Pop-up ads or pop-ups are forms of online advertising on the World Wide Web.


Universal Plug and Play (UPP) is a set of networking protocols that permits networked devices, such as personal computers, Wi-Fi access points, and mobile devices to seamlessly discover each other’s presence on the network and establish functional network services for data sharing and communications.


Radio Frequency Identification.


Zigbee is an IEEE 802.15.4-based specification for a suite of high-level communication protocols used to create personal area networks with small, low-power digital radios, such as for home automation, medical device data collection.


Low-Rate Wireless Personal Area Network.


wireless local area network.


HIS: hospital information system.


SNOMED CT: Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms.


HTTPS: Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure.


2.9 Synthesis

The selected articles were analyzed based on five main data variables presenting the applications and requirements of home telehealth monitoring systems for elderly including: applications, nonfunctional requirements (system-oriented and technical features), functional requirements (user-oriented features), devices, and communication infrastructures obtained from telehealth service delivery models and system requirements engineering [40].

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3. Results

Table 1 presents the specific extracted data from the given papers based on seven data element of date of publication, country or project name, applications, nonfunctional requirement, functional requirement, device, and communication infrastructure.

In this study, five different aspects of home telehealth systems designed for aged monitoring were considered and analyzed. These aspects include (a) applications: indicating the purpose of using the system; (b) functional requirement: defines system performance and describes the inputs, behaviors, and outputs of the system for the user [41]; (c) nonfunctional requirement: refers to system architecture made of technical and operational features to make functional requirement working properly [42]; (d) device: specifying the tools that have been mostly used in the systems; and (e) communication infrastructure: implying to the type of networks and the way the information is mostly transmitted from the elderly’s home to the central system and roaming from this station to the other parts of the system. Here, we give more information about each of aspects used for mentioned home telehealth system in detail.

According to the data analysis, it was revealed that the most common applications of home telehealth systems were respectively blood pressure (18%) and heart rate monitoring (15%). The most nonfunctional requirements of these systems included “analysis of information” (12%), and “central database” (11%); the most functional requirements were “display information for the user” and “alert system” (12%), and “personalized services” and “detection of emergency situations” (11%). In addition, results showed that the most commonly used device in the home telehealth systems for the elderly was smart phone (20%) and biomedical sensors (19%); the most widely used communication infrastructure was internet (23%), Bluetooth and Wi-Fi (17%).

Data analysis showed that in recent years (between 2013 and 2019), elderly home telehealth systems have been used by the various countries in the world, mostly in Europe in the form of applied or in progress projects. Furthermore, home telehealth systems for remote monitoring of the elderly living at home were used for a variety of applications. A total of selected articles were analyzed based on 15 parameters. They included blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation, weight, blood sugar, respiration, physical activity, body temperature, electrocardiogram, diet tracking, blood coagulation, galvanic skin response (GSR), electromyogram (EMG), chest impedance, and medication compliance as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2.

Frequency and percentage of mostly usages in home telehealth monitoring systems for elderly (M* = Monitoring).

The functional requirements included “education for the users,” “detection of emergency situations,” “reminder system,” “alert system,” “display information for users,” “ubiquitous information access,” “social and emotional support,” “personalized services,” “ease of use for elderly,” “graphical presentation of outputs,” etc. (Figure 3).

Figure 3.

Frequency and percentage of mostly functional requirements in home telehealth monitoring systems for elderly.

Nonfunctional requirements included “central database,” “information analysis,” “user-friendliness,” “EPR2 and PHR3 development,” “web–based design,”, “applying virtual environment,” “management of apps,” “creation of user profile,” “real-time monitoring,” “intelligent performance,” “system security,” etc. (Figure 4).

Figure 4.

Frequency and percentage of mostly nonfunctional requirements in home telehealth monitoring systems for elderly etc.* including: applying POP – UP (n = 1), service UPnP technology based design (n = 1), animated guide (n = 1), use variety of apps (n = 1), data reduction ability (n = 1), SOCAM & OSGi-based design (n=1), agent-based design (n = 1), applying cloud service (n = 2), push notification ability (n = 1), contact with HIS ability (n = 1), applying SNOMED CT (n = 1), and applying HTTPS (n = 1).

Different devices were used in elderly health monitoring systems. Seventeen types of devices were mentioned in the articles. They include biomedical sensors, camera, apple iPod, smart phone, PC & laptop, webcam, IoT devices, speaker and microphone, landline phone, pulse-Doppler radar, Intel health guide, broad band router, game controller, activity hub, HTC radar, and X bee PRO S2B module as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5.

Frequency and percentage of mostly devices in home telehealth monitoring systems for elderly.

According to the architecture of home telehealth systems, various communication infrastructures were used in these systems such as: Internet, Wi-Fi & Wi-Max, SMS, Zig bee, RFID, GSM & GPRS, and Bluetooth, which are shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6.

Frequency and percentage of mostly communications in home telehealth monitoring systems for elderly etc.* including: Telephone (n = 2), GPS (n = 1), LR-WPANs (n = 2), WLAN (n = 1), Ethernet (n = 2), MMS (n = 1), Cellular network (n = 1).

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4. Discussion

Home telehealth systems are very much considered, and several large projects are running in various countries. The most abundant applications of elderly remote monitoring system for home telehealth purposes were blood pressure (18%), oxygen saturation (13%), and heart rate (15 %). It is probably due to the importance of examining vital signs for aged people [42]. Hypertension is the most common condition seen in primary care because of its importance; that is, if blood pressure is not timely diagnosed and treated, it might lead to myocardial infarction, kidney failure, stroke, and death [43]. There were various functional requirements that are user-oriented features of home telehealth systems; the most common of them were “display information for the users,” “alert systems,” “detection of emergency situations,” and “personalized services.” These functional requirements are extremely important for elderly care due to their responsibility for connecting the user with home telehealth system in order to be utilized practically. According to the fact that aged people may have cognitive impairments, low levels of e-literacy and health knowledge [44], applying functional requirements may support them very much by providing more visual perception and showing the outcomes in the form of understandable graphs and appropriate alerts such as time and dose of medication, observation of nutrition, and daily calorie intakes. Applying home telehealth system may induce data production and collection, which may lead to higher quality of data analysis and results in functions such as detection, prediction, and personalized system outcomes.

The technical features of a software are called nonfunctional requirements [41], They provide infrastructure for the best system interaction with the user (the elderly) and support interoperability and security [45]. They have modules in their structure to meet elderly’s needs and support. In this study, the most frequent nonfunctional requirements included “information analysis,” “central database,” “real-time monitoring,” “intelligent performance,” “system security,” “user-friendliness,” and “applying virtual environment.” In addition, in home telehealth systems for elderly living at home, various devices and communication infrastructures are used depending on the type of applied telehealth model, architecture, and the distance between home and healthcare center [12]. Based on this review, the most common devices were biomedical sensors and smart phone using Internet, Wi-Fi & Wi-max, and Bluetooth, which are highly frequent ways of communication.

The results of reviewing the projects aimed to monitor elder adults living at home revealed that these systems follow various outcomes such as monitoring purpose systems (sweet-home project) [46] and My Heart4 [46]. They are aimed to monitor health status in senior people for either telecare or telehealth purposes. For instance, My Heart is a telehealth project to prevent cardiovascular disease by supporting elderly people having proper lifestyle and early diagnosis [47]; REACTION5 is another telehealth project to support long-term management of diabetes in elderly cases through using wearable’s device, continuous blood glucose monitoring sensors, and automated closed-loop delivery of insulin [48]. However, other well-known elderly monitoring projects are for telecare purposes, they have, particularly in Europe, focused on elderly people’s life quality improvement besides extending their independent life through equipping their home and environment [46]. For example, SOPRANO6 is another project in Europe to develop home environment to support assistive technology using service-oriented architecture (SOA) [49]. InCASA7 project supports elderly to live longer in their home via increasing their self-confidence [40].

Based on what we learned in this review, the telecare system is composed of telehealth systems which are different, according to the care provided to user. Due to the distinct entity of telecare and telehealth [50, 51], we focused on telehealth as a part of telecare for elderly living at home. Home telehealth system is composed of three parts including elderly home section, service center, and monitoring unit in a healthcare provider center [25, 40]. These three parts are connected to each other and linked to their related devices. The devices are linked too. We focused on one device, which might be a smartphone in elderly’s hand; the device encompasses nonfunctional and functional features. Based on the capabilities of a device, different applications would be provided to a user through various communication infrastructures. In fact, the more nonfunctional capabilities are embedded, the more functional features are supported by the device providing more applications for elder adult’s remote care at home. Although studied systems are capable of providing various monitoring and care, there is still a need to use new technologies including internet of thing and internet of humans to enhance home telehealth systems. Further research is suggested to proceed this primarily schematic suggestion of home telehealth system for elderly.

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5. Limitations

In this study, only requirements and applications of home telehealth systems for elderly living at home were investigated, and further studies are required to examine the effect of these systems on aged people quality of life. Furthermore, in this review, we only focused on home care, and more study might be needed to explore the requirement of telehealth system for nursing home. Another limitation is not studying environmental factors affecting elderly home care and only emphasizing on requirements and applications for health-related factors.

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6. Conclusion

Home telehealth systems for monitoring elderly are a type of telemedicine system specifically used for monitoring aged people. They encompass various technologies connected to elderly’s home in order to provide different cares. Recognizing all used requirements and achieved capabilities may assist designing more effective systems. They might be expanded in national level to meet elderly’s needs in greater scale. Introduced elements of home telehealth system may support developers, nurses, and decision-makers to understand which infrastructure is appropriate for required usages based on available resources and facilities.

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Notes

  • Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
  • EPR :electronic patient record.
  • PHR: personal health record.
  • MyHeart is a so-called Integrated Project of the European Union aiming to develop intelligent systems for the prevention and monitoring of cardiovascular diseases.
  • REACTION:Remote Accessibility to Diabetes Management and Therapy in Operational healthcare Networks.
  • SOPRANO: Service-oriented Programmable Smart Environments for Older Europeans.
  • InCASA: integrated network for completely assisted senior citizen`s anatomy.

Written By

Ahmadreza Shamsabadi, Esmaeil Mehraeen and Zahra Pashaei

Submitted: 01 March 2022 Reviewed: 26 May 2022 Published: 09 September 2022