Early Monitoring Tool for IADL Independence Based on Conversational Agents

People are living longer and consequently increasingly needing more care. The willing of these elders to maintain their independence can be dangerous and a burden for their family and caregivers. Current research focuses on maintaining cognitive function and preventing disability to enhance life quality and independence in elders. Identifying individuals at risk for cognitive decline is crucial since early intervention is more effective for those with relatively good functional status. Geriatric assessments are comprehensive evaluations of elders’ functional and cognitive status. They often focus on the elders’ independence in performing Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) for identifying treatable problems. Clinicians primarily use self-reported tests to assess IADL performance in elders. However, these tests can be time-consuming, produce stress on the patient and administered too late for effective rehabilitation. This paper proposes a novel IADL evaluation method using an adapted version of the currently performed questionnaires on IADLs independence deployed using Conversational Agents (CAs) to administer them to the elder at home. The CA enables home-based evaluations, reducing anxiety and providing a cost-effective monitoring tool. Integrating Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) systems with the CA enhances assessment precision by correlating sensor data with CA evaluations, offering a comprehensive and adaptive approach to elder care. Information obtained from sensors in AAL environments can be used as feedback to conduct and adapt the questionnaires done by the CA to the current needs and problems faced by the elder.