The way that innovation is currently done requires a new research methodology that enables co-creation and frequent, iterative evaluation in realworld settings. This paper describes the employment of the living lab methodology that corresponds to this need. Particularly, this paper presents the way that the Amsterdam University of Applies Sciences (HvA) incorporates living labs in its educational program with a particular focus on ambient intelligence. A number of examples are given to illustrate its place in the university’s curriculum. Drawing on from this, problems and solutions are highlighted in a ‘lessons learned’ section.
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Third chapter of the English version of the book 'Energieke Arbeid' published by the Centre of Applied Labour Market Research and Innovation (Dutch abbreviation: KCA) to celebrate the 10th anniversary of applied labour market research at Hanze University of Applied Sciences. This chapter discusses the second line of research of KCA: The Labour Market in the EnergyPort Groningen Region.
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At ageing, there comes a certain point when people are no longer able to live independently in their own homes. With an ever increasing elderly population, this constitutes a significant and increasing burden for the health care expenses. The need for more cost effective solutions is evident.Research from H. van der Kloet (Hanze UAS) suggests that there is one main concern why people consider moving to an elderly home earlier than they actually need to; safety. There are many aspects to safety: self reliance, self confidence, indoor security and social security.With the elderly population becoming more technically aware, the opportunity of using technology to enable a longer independent life while maintaining or even enhancing quality of life, and thus to prevent rising health care expenses, is possible.With this in mind a Home Automated Living Platform (H.A.L.P.) was developed.
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Objective: To predict mortality by disability in a sample of 479 Dutch community-dwelling people aged 75 years or older. Methods: A longitudinal study was carried out using a follow-up of seven years. The Groningen Activity Restriction Scale (GARS), a self-reported questionnaire with good psychometric properties, was used for data collection about total disability, disability in activities in daily living (ADL) and disability in instrumental activities in daily living (IADL). The mortality dates were provided by the municipality of Roosendaal (a city in the Netherlands). For analyses of survival, we used Kaplan–Meier analyses and Cox regression analyses to calculate hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: All three disability variables (total, ADL and IADL) predicted mortality, unadjusted and adjusted for age and gender. The unadjusted HRs for total, ADL and IADL disability were 1.054 (95%-CI: [1.039;1.069]), 1.091 (95%-CI: [1.062;1.121]) and 1.106 (95%-CI: [1.077;1.135]) with p-values <0.001, respectively. The AUCs were <0.7, ranging from 0.630 (ADL) to 0.668 (IADL). Multivariate analyses including all 18 disability items revealed that only “Do the shopping” predicted mortality. In addition, multivariate analyses focusing on 11 ADL items and 7 IADL items separately showed that only the ADL item “Get around in the house” and the IADL item “Do the shopping” significantly predicted mortality. Conclusion: Disability predicted mortality in a seven years follow-up among Dutch community-dwelling older people. It is important that healthcare professionals are aware of disability at early stages, so they can intervene swiftly, efficiently and effectively, to maintain or enhance the quality of life of older people.
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Sport for development (SFD) initiatives have faced numerous criticisms around the focus on individual-level (micro) outcomes and lack of integration at the community (meso) and structural (macro) levels. As a result, there is growing recognition that programmes need to find ways to work with and engage a wide range of community members and stakeholders through more inclusive, participatory approaches. One such approach is known as Living Labs. In the following conceptual article, we present the Sport and Social Cohesion Lab (SSCL) project, which implemented a Living Lab approach in various sport-based programmes from four different European countries. The main components of the Living Lab framework are presented, and practical insights are derived from the project. In addition, the unique and sometimes critical role of sport is reflected upon in relation to the Living Lab context. Through this, this article provides practitioners and academics with potential building blocks to implement Living Labs and/or embed participatory approaches in sport and physical activity contexts and social settings more generally.
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Intelligent environments can offer support to people with early-stage dementia, who often experience problems with maintaining their circadian rhythm. The focus of this work is developing a prototype of an Intelligent Environment for assisting these people with their daily rhythm while living independently at home. Following the four phases of the Empathic Design Framework (Explore, Translate, Process, and Validate), the needs of people with dementia and their caregivers were incorporated into the design. In the exploration phase, a need assessment took place using focus groups (N=12), observations (N=10), and expert interviews (N=27). Then, to determine the requirements for a prototype of an intelligent environment, the second phase, Translate, used three co-creation sessions with different stakeholder groups. In these sessions, Mind Maps (N=55) and Idea Generation Cards (N=35) were used. These resulted in a set of 10 requirements on the following topics: context-awareness, pattern recognition, adaptation, support, personalization, autonomy, modularity, dementia proof interaction, costs, data, and privacy. Finally, in the third phase, the requirements were applied to a real-life prototype by a multidisciplinary design team of researchers, (E-Health) tech companies, designers, software engineers with representatives of eight organizations. The prototype serves as a basis for further development of Intelligent Environments to enable people with dementia to live longer independently at home.
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This thesis has increased our knowledge of the needs of homeless people using shelter facilities in the Netherlands and of the needs and wishes of people living in persistent poverty. It provides guidance for policy and further professionalization and quality improvements to the services and support provided to homeless people and people living in persistent poverty. The results underscore the importance of broad and integrated policy measures to strengthen socioeconomic security, and emphasize the need for including the views of clients and experts by experience in the development of policy. Our research also stresses the need for services to employ peer workers to support homeless people and people living in persistent poverty and to apply a more human-to-human approach.
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The paper discusses the growing importance of urban freight research given the increasing urban population trends. The complexity of urban freight systems means that it is essential for the public and private sectors to work together - one way to achieve this has been through freight partnerships. A short review of freight partnerships highlights the way in which they have fostered mutual understanding among urban freight stakeholders. The literature on shared situational awareness (SSA) and joint knowledge production (JKP) has been adapted to position freight partnerships and to further develop and link these partnerships to the concept of a living laboratory concerned with urban freight transport. This novel application of the living lab concept is introduced. Next, the first phases of a city logistics living lab brought in practice in Rotterdam are shortly mentioned. The living lab concept fits the complexities of the urban freight system well and has been a cornerstone of a recently started major freight project in the EU (CITYLAB). © 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.
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This dissertation focuses on the ability of frail older persons, living in homes for the elderly, to stay as independent as possible. The quality of life in older adults depends for a great deal on whether they are dependent from care or not, and to what extent they are dependent. Care dependency is directly linked to ADL performance. Older people experience failure when they cannot look after themselves any longer, after a life of hard work and build up independence. From the view of a geriatric physiotherapist, optimalization of physical fitness characteristics like muscle strength, flexibility, aerobic endurance, coordination, and balance is the tool which may improve performance of activities of daily living (ADL).
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In the Netherlands, there is an increasing need for collective forms of housing for older people. Such housing bridges the gap between the extremes of living in an institutionalised setting and remaining in their own house. The demand is related to the closure of many residential care homes and the need for social engagement with other residents. This study focuses on housing initiatives that offer innovative and alternative forms of independent living, which deviate from mainstream housing arrangements. It draws on recent literature on healthcare ‘rebels’ and further develops the concept of ‘rebellion’ in the context of housing. The main research question is how founders dealt with challenges of establishing and governing ‘rebellious’ innovative living arrangements for older people in the highly regulated context of housing and care in the Netherlands. Qualitative in-depth interviews with 17 founders (social entrepreneurs, directors and supervisory board members) were conducted. Founders encountered various obstacles that are often related to governmental and sectoral rules and regulations. Their stories demonstrate the opportunities and constraints of innovative entrepreneurship at the intersection of housing and care. The study concludes with the notion of ‘responsible rebellion’ and practical lessons about dealing with rules and regulations and creating supportive contexts. Original article at MDPI; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176235 And atachment "Supplementary Materials" (This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers "Age-Friendly Cities & Communities: State of the Art and Future Perspectives")
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