Software para la monitorización y asistencia durante actividades en exterior para los pacientes con el mal de Alzheimer: Implementación en plataforma Android

Abstract

La principal causa de demencia es la enfermedad de Alzheimer, que afecta principalmente a personas mayores a 45 a˜nos. Este mal produce el deterioro de los procesos cognitivos de los pacientes existiendo m´as de 26 millones de personas con Alzheimer en el mundo. En la mayorıa de los casos los familiares asumen los cuidados en sus propios hogares, o simplemente las personas son llevadas a hogares de acogida. El cuidado de las personas que padecen esta enfermedad es una tarea que en algunos casos puede volverse un trabajo engorroso debido a los comportamientos que puede presentar el paciente, llegando incluso a provocar severos casos de stress tanto en el cuidador como el paciente. Actualmente el mal de Alzheimer no tiene cura por lo que los esfuerzos estan orientados al retardo de esta enfermedad, a trav´es de la estimulaci´on de los procesos cognitivos mediante de actividades que no implican la utilizaci´on de medicamentos. Las caminatas y las actividades que se realizan fuera del hogar, son tareas recomendadas por especialistas que estimulan los procesos cognitivos y mantienen la calidad de vida del paciente, logrando retardar la enfermedad. La necesidad de una herramienta capaz de proporcionar la posibilidad de supervisar y ayudar a un paciente con Alzheimer en tareas que realice fuera del hogar, es una alternativa viable al momento de priorizar la calidad de vida del enfermo. Al monitorizar caminatas, le brinda independencia al paciente por cierta cantidad de tiempo, adem´as de proporcionar a los cuidadores breves descansos, para que las tareas de vigilancia y supervisi´on no se vuelvan tediosas. Es por estas razones y en base del paradigma de la computacion ubicua que mediante la utilizacion de dispositivos moviles se desarrollo el presente producto de software que consta de una aplicacion implementada en la plataforma Android, la cual realiza la monitorizacion a traves de la utilizacion de la localizacion vıa GPS y entrega informacion util de lugares(previamente almacenados en el sistema) que el paciente recorre durante una caminata, y registra informacion en un se vicio web. El servicio web es el encargado de guardar la informacion de manera persistente en una base de datos y almacena la informacion de la localizacion del paciente en tiempo real, a la cual se puede acceder mediante una aplicacion web que proporciona las herramientas para visualizar la ubicacion en un mapa. Una de las principales caracterısticas del producto de software es la generacion de rutas programadas con lugares conocidos por el paciente,con el fin de situarlo en una situaci´on donde debera interpretar la informacion dada para cumplir las metas que se le pediran durante el recorrido, estimulando su raciocinio y con estos sus procesos cognitivos. En otras palabras el producto de software es capaz de: • Almacenar informacion de pacientes y monitores. • Almacenar informacion georreferenciada de lugares para la identificacion de Hitos y Obstaculos. • Almacenar recorridos para realizar caminatas en ambientes externos. • Localizacion de paciente mediante tecnologıa GPS. • Almacenar informaci´on de localizacion en tiempo real. • Aplicaci´on web para el servicio de monitorizacion. El producto de software fue desarrollado mediante la metodologıa de desarollo iterativo con objetos acoplados, con el fin de desarrollar una arquitectura modular y reusable, bajo el paradigma de la orientacion a objetos./ The principal cause of dementia is the Alzheimer’s disease, mainly affecting people over 45. This disease causes the deterioration of cognitive processes of patients, existing more than 26 million people with Alzheimers in the world. In most cases the family takes care in their own houses, or just the patients are taken to foster homes. The care of people that are suffering this disease is a job that in some cases can become a cumbersome work, because the behaviors that the patient can present even causing severe cases of stress on both persons, the caregiver and the patient.Actually the Alzheimers disease has no cure, so the efforts are oriented to delay the disease through the stimulation of cognitive processes through activities that do not involve the use of drugs. The walks and the activities take place outside the house, task are recommended by specialists for stimulate the cognitive processes and keep the quality of life of the patient in delaying the disease. The need of a tool able to provide the possibility to monitoring and assist a patient with Alzheimer’s in tasks that he realize outside the house, is a viable alternative to prioritize the quality of life of the patient. Monitoring the walks gives independence to the patient for an amount of time, also providing short breaks for caretakers, for that the task of monitoring and supervision do not become tedious. For this reasons and based on the paradigm of ubiquitous computing using mobile devices was developed this product of software consisting in a deployed application on the Android plataform, that made the monitoring through the use of the location by GPS and provides helpful information of places (previously stored in the system) the patient goes for a walk and records information on a web service. The web service is responsible of storing information persistently in a database and store the information of the location of the patient in real time, wich can be accessed through a web application that provides the tools to visualize the location in a map. One of the principal characteristics of the software product is the generation of scheduled routes with places known by the patient, to put him on a situation where he must interpret the information given to meet the goals that might be asked during the tour, stimulating his reasoning and cognitive processes. In others words the product of software is able to: • Lay up information of patients and monitors.The principal cause of dementia is the Alzheimer’s disease, mainly affecting people over 45. This disease causes the deterioration of cognitive processes of patients, existing more than 26 million people with Alzheimer’s in the world. In most cases the family takes care in their own houses, or just the patients are taken to foster homes. The care of people that are suffering this disease is a job that in some cases can become a cumbersome work, because the behaviors that the patient can present, even causing severe cases of stress on both persons, the caregiver and the patient. Actually the Alzheimer’s disease has no cure, so the efforts are oriented to delay the disease through the stimulation of cognitive processes through activities that do not involve the use of drugs. The walks and the activities take place outside the house, task are recommended by specialists for stimulate the cognitive processes and keep the quality of life of the patient in delaying the disease. The need of a tool able to provide the possibility to monitoring and assist a patient with Alzheimer’s in tasks that he realize outside the house, is a viable alternative to prioritize the quality of life of the patient. Monitoring the walks gives independence to the patient for an amount of time, also providing short breaks for caretakers, for that the task of monitoring and supervision do not become tedious. For this reasons and based on the paradigm of ubiquitous computing using mobile devices was developed this product of software consisting in a deployed application on the Android plataform, that made the monitoring through the use of the location by GPS and provides helpful information of places (previously stored in the system) the patient goes for a walk and records information on a web service. The web service is responsible of storing information persistently in a database and store the information of the location of the patient in real time, wich can be accessed through a web application that provides the tools to visualize the location in a map. One of the principal characteristics of the software product is the generation of scheduled routes with places known by the patient, to put him on a situation where he must interpret the information given to meet the goals that might be asked during the tour, stimulating his reasoning and cognitive processes. In others words the product of software is able to: • Lay up information of patients and monitors.• Lay up georeferenced information of places for the identification of Hitos and Obstacles. • Lay up tours to realize walks outside the house. • Localization of the patient through GPS tecnology. • Lay up information of the localization in real time. • Web aplication for the monitoring service. The software product was developed using iterative methodology with coupled objects in order to develop a modular architecture and reusable , in the paradigm of object orientation.