ZentrAAL – AAL pilot region Salzburg

Declining birth rates and rising life expectancy characterize the demographic development of many regions in Europe. Parallel to this, age-associated diseases, such as dementia and type 2 diabetes mellitus, are increasing. This inevitably leads to an increase in the need for assistance and support. In recent years, a number of technologies and services for the elderly and/or people in need of care have been developed. Despite the high market potential and great economic benefits of these solutions, they could not realize their potential so far. Reasons for this include, amongst others, insufficient suitability for everyday use, lacking technical compatibility, upgradeability and missing market maturity. The approach of ZentrAAL therefore is to convince “younger”, active seniors (60-75 years) with first signs of a need for support or security of the usefulness of existing technologies. For this they should be slowly introduced to supportive technologies through expert advice and support, thus gradually removing existing anxieties. In contrast to existing strategies, a holistic, user-centric approach is pursued in ZentrAAL. By merging various solutions available on the market with R & D components into a cost effective, useable and extendible software system, support can be ensured both at home as well as on the way. In addition, ZentrAAL addresses not only the central urban area, but also rural areas (Innergebirg in the province of Salzburg). It will promote the adoption of existing homes instead of concentrating on equipping new buildings. In order to gain significant results, the ZentrAAL system will be evaluated along the entire AAL-value chain in a wide field test (60 households) for a period of 15 months. The accompanying evaluation will give insights into market barriers and market viability of the composite ZentrAAL system, the effects of new technologies on the life of older people as well as prerequisites for a successful transition into the market.