FARSEEING
By our Member UNIBO (IT)
Project description
FARSEEING aimed to promote better prediction, prevention and support for older people at risk of falling. Smartphones and body-worn sensors were used to keep track of physical behaviour and falls. A fall repository for data on physical behaviour monitored by body-worn sensors was set up (with nearly 2,000 people with and without falls).
In 2018, FARSEEING’s achievements were recognised by the European Union’s Innovation Radar as making it one of the top three most influential/high impact European projects.
A key innovation of the project was a web-based fall risk assessment tool, called FRAT-up, validated on four large European cohorts of patients.
Acceptability of technologies by older people and motivational aspects were assessed. This led to the writing of guidelines on older adults’ perceptions of technologies aimed at falls prevention, detection or monitoring.
The FARSEEING taxonomy is available as an on-line tool that provides a core way of assessing technologies for the purposes of systematic review, meta-analysis, and evidence synthesis.
One of FARSEEING’s most successful dissemination activities was the organisation of the first European Union Falls Festival in 2015. The festival is now an event not to be missed for the falls prevention community. In October 2019 the fifth edition of the event will be organized in Umeå, Sweden.
Visit the FARSEEING website at: http://farseeingresearch.eu/
University of Bologna - Department of Electrical, Electronic, and Information Engineering
The EHTEL member University of Bologna coordinated the project and was responsible for the technology development in FARSEEING. The department drew on its expertise with artificial intelligence, mobile health, and biomedical engineering.
The FARSEEING Real-World Fall Repository is currently the largest collection of validated real-world fall data recorded with wearable sensors. It is available for sharing upon request by downloading the application form.
A spin-off company, mHealth Technologies s.r.l., was created by the University of Bologna. The company exploits some of the project results related with the assessment of functional capacity and activity monitoring.
What’s in it for EHTEL members?
In general, FARSEEING has much to offer:
- Joining up with potential colleagues in technological areas of interest e.g., artificial intelligence and mobile health.
- Working with high-calibre and impactful partners (winners of the 2018 Innovation Radar).
- Learning more about falls (one of the six key topics in active and healthy ageing).
For EHTEL members concerned particularly by older people who fall, there are plenty of opportunities for the use of tools and activities that have emerged from FARSEEING:
- Using the FRAT-up fall risk assessment tool.
- Visiting the official festival website.
- Using the guidelines on how to prevent, detect, or monitor falls.
This project was co-funded by the European Commission under the
7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development
Project recognised by EU Innovation Radar
***For more information visit the project website***
