Distributed Architecture for an Elderly Accompaniment Service Based on IoT Devices, AI, and Cloud Services

As the population is aging, we are facing a substantial increase in health and care demands. The chronic diseases suffered by the elderly, together with the huge sacrifices made by the relatives who care for them, add more complexity. Moreover, major investments are needed as public administrations and associations are currently overwhelmed. Indeed, the material and human resources required to offer quality and sustainable care are lacking. The private sector is not offering a clear solution either as it is unable to offer generally affordable personalized attention. This article proposes a distributed architecture that supports an accompaniment service for the elderly and dependents (SAM Service). It is based on the creation of a technological platform of cloud services, together with an accompanying device. The service uses smart devices, natural language, and a specialized social network that connects the elderly with their families and with their social and health carers. SAM Service will help to mitigate the complicated issue of care as it will allow public bodies, associations, or companies to offer a 24/7 quality accompaniment service that is both affordable and sustainable. Given the complexity of this type of system, the main contribution of this work consists of the proposal of a set of architectural patterns that will facilitate the deployment of the service under different technologies, actors, and development scenarios.