Ambient assisted living technologies to support older adults’ health and wellness: a systematic mapping review

M.-A. Choukou, A. Polyvyana, Y. Sakamoto, A. Osterreicher

Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg (MB), Canada. amine.choukou@umanitoba.ca

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• Geriatrics

While the proportion of the Older Adults (OAs) population is growing, this shift raises a challenging question: “How can we support OAs to lead independent and healthy lifestyle?”. Many researchers have been studying Ambient Assisted Living Technologies (or AALTs) over the last three decades to tackle this challenge. However, no literature can provide an overall view of research in the field of AALTs and linkages between technical development and related healthcare needs. Thus, we conducted a systematic mapping review of literature focusing on AALTs (N = 7006) to explore three main research questions: 1) When, where, and how AALTs are studied?; 2) What is the technological maturity level of AALTs used to support a health and wellness, and where were they evaluated and/or implemented?; and 3) To which health and wellness purposes are AALTs deployed? We found several noticeable imbalances in literature and identified some strategies to move this field of investigation further and to bring AALTs applications closer to clinical practice. While research in the area is gradually blossoming, the area mainly leads in only a few countries. Furthermore, the majority of research targeted asymptomatic older adults living at home. We hope this paper will help researchers easily understand what type of research, with whom, and where are available in AALT now. Potential challenges associated with AALTs research are also discussed.

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