Evaluation of a modular scalable system for silver-ager located in assisted living homes in Austria - study protocol of the ModuLAAr ambient assisted living project

Background: To cope with the upcoming demographic change, economic efforts in the European Union are undertaken to promote activities in research and development of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) solutions. As a result, a large variety of AAL products will be available in the next years. Only very few of these products are comprehensively evaluated regarding different aspects of quality of life in the target population. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of AAL on quality of life, health and technology acceptance of people at advanced age living in assisted living homes providing them the ModuLAAr Ambient Assisted Living system. Methods/Design: A treatment group of adults aged 60 years and older will be recruited within the participating assisted living homes. At baseline, the participating volunteers will report on quality of life, subjective health and sociodemographic conditions. After system installation, prospective follow-up (1, 4, 12 and 18 months) with additional reporting on technology acceptance and usability of the system will be conducted. Mixed methods data collection, linking quantitative data to interview-gathered qualitative data will be applied. Primary outcome measure will be the change in quality of life and subjective health across study duration. Discussion: As there is currently very little evidence that AAL solutions can contribute to improved health and the particular dimensions of quality of life in elderly persons, there is a need to assess these technologies and services more carefully. This field trial seeks to investigate the most relevant aspects connected to advanced information and communication technologies and their impact on daily life of residents in assisted living conditions.