A Conceptual Model of Health Monitoring Systems Centered on ADLs Performance in Older Adults.

Older adults usually present physical and mental problems such as anxiety, stress, depression, and mood disorders. In addition, there is a strong correlation between emotions/socialization and health. Negative emotions affect mental and physical health and can be caused by other diseases. Social isolation is a health risk factor comparable to smoking or physical inactivity. The diagnosis process is usually time-consuming and requires resources. The performance of the Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) could be used as an index of the decay of the elders, which can be delayed. ICTs can provide valuable and automatic support to health professionals facilitating routine tasks. Health monitoring systems, especially multi-sensing and intelligent, should be designed to fulfil requirements from each specific health domain. This paper reviews state-of-the-art and proposes a conceptual model centered on the ADLs concept, considering different health dimensions (social, emotional, physical and cognitive). Our proposal allows the evaluation of the elders' health holistically, and transparently. The conceptual model provides comprehensibility for this domain and provides a basis for developing multi-sensing and intelligent health monitoring systems.