During the RP1 the project underwent to two parallel tracks, in close coordination. One involved preparation for the two phases of the experimentation on humans, the second involved preparation of the dashboard and integration of the different technical components of My-AHA. There two major parts of the project were strongly intertwined and mutually interactive involving clinical and technical members to enable a continuous adaptation of system development to meet the needs of the user and the project objectives.
During the first reporting period the following work has been performed:
1. Ethical issues were discussed and protocols for the alpha wave were authorized
2. Development of the Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) protocol commenced
3. During the alpha wave data from participants regarding system portability and usability was collected and analysed
4. RCT trial sites recruited participants into the study (ethical board approval)
5. Risk models were developed and analysed with a set of physical, cognitive, nutritional and social interventions having been designed
6. The resulting My-AHA system architecture was inspired on a message-driven solution that is typical in Internet-of-Things scenarios.
7. Through the connectors developed with the original platforms, My-AHA Middleware managed all the exchanges of data among the devices and the users
8. In order to interact with all the My-AHA components developed, the entry point for My-AHA system is the “dashboard”.
During the RP2 the consortium performed a revision of the literature for the risks of frailty in the different domains to develop an ICT platform (the My-AHA platform) for the users that detects individual risks for frailty. The My-AHA platform comprises an interface dashboard for users to interact with the system and a middleware software platform running the background that connects different existing platforms (Smart Companion, Medisana, and VitalinQ) to be connected to the My-AHA platform. In the second RP the RCT was launched and the intervention group of subjects experimented personalized intervention. The My-AHA platform confirmed to be sufficiently flexible and usable to answer to the needs of the older adults from different cultures and languages across European and Extra-European countries. Detailed planning of the RCT has been approved by ethical committees, registered as a Clinical Trial, with the RCT protocol publisked in a high impact scientific medical journal.
During the RP2 My-AHA partners, and in particular Johanniter International through its European network provided intensive dissemination, to lay the foundation to create partnerships and collaborations with relevant stakeholders (incl. policy makers), SME & NGO service providers and insurance companies that will be interested to engage in the my-AHA platform.
During the RP3 the system allowed to collect data from pre-frail elderly subjects during the last period of the RCT, which were analysed statistically. WP3 could design new models of frailty in the different domains. We propose a new cumulative frailty index derived from the results of the My-AHA protocol (My-AHA FI). Usability and accessibility of ICT tools were extended to all participants to the RCT. During the whole period of the project the acceptance and compliance of the participants to the project and the technology proposed was constantly monitored, and updates regarding these aspects were issued at regular time intervals in WP7. The scalability of the system has proven to be possible. At no time, the servers had a problem in dealing with the access rates of participants. Also the local administration of trial sites showed that small, agile teams can run the full system including interventions autonomously. With significant results from the RCT for the cognitive domain and on the Quality of Life and the similar results at different trial sites across the world, the impact is now possible to be quantified and proven for the main stakeholders in health care.
