For many years, the public image of national libraries has been that of closed institutions open only to researchers as a place of last resort. National libraries are seeking to change that image and, through cooperation, establish themselves as access points for information, nationally and internationally. TEL, The European Library, is an example of how this may be achieved.
Background
Many older people wish to remain in their own environment for as long as possible; an aim shared by the wider community. Here the results of the RegionAAL study (Steiermark, Austria) are reported.
Methods
An RCT was implemented to evaluate a programme of interventions (e.g. medication, drink and physical activity reminders, automatic light systems, watches to detect falls, video telephone with carers). Data was collected via quantitative questionnaires at baseline, 6 months and 1 year regarding quality of life and carers’ burden.
Results
111 persons and 104 carers took part in the intervention group; 110 participants and 100 carers in the control group. Participant characteristics were similar at baseline. Average age was 76 years. Around 1/3 were formal carers. A tendency for more persons in the control group to require assistance after one year could be observed. The subscales autonomy and participation of the WHOQOL-OLD showed some significant declines in the control group (no deterioration in the intervention group). No differences between study arms regarding general health, chronic conditions or hospital admissions were observed. Expected reduction in worry among carers could not be observed, although there was a tendency for some aspects of burden to be reduced. The interventions did not lead to a reduction in carers’ workload; neither did the carers see any direct improvement of their situation.
Conclusions
Some technologies such as cognitive games on the tablet, portable door bell and automatic light sensor were positively assessed. The participants in the intervention group scored better on autonomy and participation subscales than the control group; the intervention group also fared somewhat better regarding independence. The technologies had little influence on general health states or quality of life of participants or carers. Further good quality studies are needed before AAL technologies are considered as a public health initiative.
Key messages
AAL may reduce aspects of worry among carers and prevent age-related decline in autonomy, participation and independence among older persons but not have an effect on general health status or burden. AAL has only a very limited impact upon general health status or quality of life of older persons and the general burden experienced by carers.
This publication details the workplan of the Science Project (SP) “COVID-19 metadata findability and interoperability in EOSC” (short: META-COVID) that is part of the Horizon Europe funded project EOSC Future. The COVID-19 pandemic has generated a huge variety of research activities, studies, and policies across both the life sciences (LS) and the social sciences and humanities (SSH). Useful insights from combining the data and conclusions from these different forms of research are, however, hampered by the lack of a common metadata framework with which to describe them. This is because different scientific disciplines have different ways of organising research activities. For example, the type of the research (e.g., hypothesis testing versus hypothesis generating) and the methodology chosen (e.g., experimental, survey, cohort, case study) are key elements in understanding the data generated and in supporting its secondary use. Another issue to be tackled is the integration of various sources of metadata related to parliamentary and social media metadata. In META-COVID, scientists from the LS and SSH domains gathered to discuss ways in which metadata could go beyond the description of the data itself to include the basic elements of the research process (“contextual metadata”) within the frame of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). The main outcomes of the SP will be: i) An inventory of metadata schemas applied across infrastructures and domains; ii) The development of a framework for a metadata model characterising the research approach and workflow across research infrastructures; iii) The application of the framework to selected COVID-19 use cases; iv) The development of an ontology of COVID-19 related topics from parliamentary data and social media.
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