Pilot Study of Smart Home "Casa Satellite": First Results of the Monitoring

Nowadays, using of automation technologies is a solution implemented in different contexts (e.g. private homes, sheltered apartments, and health care facilities) in order to help users with special needs and even persons with Cognitive Impairments (CIs). A training apartment called “Casa Satellite” was realized in Trento (Italy). It is a Smart Home (SH) with an automation system and assistive devices for people with CIs. First residents of the “Casa Satellite” project are sixteen young adults with Down Syndrome (DS) aged between 21 and 31 years who live with their families. They are individuals with mild or moderate mental retardation. They stayed in this apartment in groups of four and for four consecutive days per month for about three years. Some of these participants have been monitored as a case study. This paper describes the analysis of five Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), selected from nine monitored, but for only one user. Goal of the pilot study is to measure the improvement margin of the independence in ADLs carried out without and with home automation and Assistive Aids (AA). A Supports Intensity Scale (SIS) has been used for a standardized assessment of the intensity of support needs. Data processing showed different trends of improvement for the monitored activities in both absence and presence of AAs although more marked in the second case. The first results of this pilot study suggest a potential training value of the “Casa Satellite”.