A Big Data Infrastructure in Support of Healthy and Independent Living - A Real Case Application

Aug 5, 2026

Uploaded by Quinn

The chapter explains how the SMART BEAR project integrates heterogeneous smart devices, including wearables and environmental sensors, to collect continuous data from elderly people’s everyday lives. The collected information is processed through an affordable, accountably secure, privacy-preserving eHealth platform using machine learning to generate interventions such as personalized notifications and alerts, supporting healthy and independent living. The approach covers the data-driven decision-making workflow and the supporting analytics and decision support components.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages43

Reading Time1 h 48 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Big Data Infrastructure for Healthy and Independent Living

SMART BEAR objectives and target participants

Data integration and continuous collection

Platform architecture: repositories, analytics engine, and dashboards

Decision Support System and personalized alerts

Springer Nature 2021 LATEX template A Big Data Infrastructure in Support of Healthy and Independent Living: a Real Case Application Valerio Bellandi 1*† 1* Computer Science Department, Universit`a degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 18, Milano, 20133, Italy. Corresponding author(s). E-mail(s): [valerio.bellandi@unimi.it](valerio.bellandi@unimi.it) ;†Contributing authors are listed in the Acknowledgements Section. Abstract This chapter illustrates how the SMART BEAR project aims to integrate heterogeneous smart devices, including wearables and environmental sensors, to enable the continuous data collection from the everyday life of the elderly, which will be processed by an affordable, accountably secure, and privacy-preserving eHealth platform applying Machine Learning algorithms to deliver interventions such as personalized notifications and alerts to each patient, thus promoting their healthy and independent living. Keywords: Smart Healthcare, Machine Learning, Analytics, Cloud computation 1 Introduction A rapid increase in the elderly European population is predicted for the coming decades, due to the ageing of those born after WWII. Within Europe’s ageing population, Hearing Loss, Cardio Vascular Diseases, Cognitive Impairments, Mental Health Issues, and Balance Disorders, as well as Frailty, are prevalent conditions, with tremendous social and financial impact. Preventing, slowing Springer Nature 2021 LATEX template 2 A Big Data Infrastructure in Support of Healthy and Independent Living the development of, or dealing effectively with the effects of the above impairments can have a significant impact on a person’s quality of life and lead to significant savings in the cost of healthcare services at the same time. This chapter describes the approach adopted by the SMART BEAR (Smart Big Data Platform to Offer Evidence-based Personalised Support for Healthy and Independent Living at Home) project 1 , 2 to design the data-driven decision-making process supporting the creation of personalized interventions, in order to sustain the healthy ageing of people. SMART BEAR (SB) targets participants who are between 67 and 80 years old and have a clinical history including at least two of the following conditions: Hearing Loss, Cardio Vascular Diseases, Cognitive Impairments, Mental Health Issues, and Balance Disorders, as well as Frailty. In addition to the conditions mentioned above, during the initial testing phase, which is hereby called “Pilot of the Pilots” and has been set up in Madeira as the trial scenario for technical requirements, low back pain is also targeted. The aim of the SMART BEAR platform is to integrate heterogeneous sensors, assistive medical and mobile devices to enable the continuous data collection from the everyday life of the participants, which will be analysed to obtain the evidence needed in order to offer personalised interventions promoting their healthy and independent living.[1] . eHealth platforms hold promise for many health benefits that can enhance the overall well-being of the elderly,through promotion of a healthier lifestyle and facilitation of the self-monitoring and self-management of their comorbidities. SMART BEAR is built on the eHealth platform developed by the H2020 project EVOTION3 to support evidence-based public health policies formation and monitoring, which supports: (a) the continuous collection of medical, physiological and lifestyle data from heterogeneous resources (hospitals, biosensors,advanced hearing aids and mobile phones), and (b) the analysis of these data, driven by high level big data analytics and decision models to generate evidence useful for making public health policy level interventions.[2] The data processing schema encompasses a collection phase, where data are transmitted from the smart devices to the repositories in the SMART BEAR platform, and a data analysis phase, where the data are ingested by the Big Data Analytics

FAQs

What is the main goal of the SMART BEAR project described in the chapter?

SMART BEAR aims to integrate heterogeneous smart devices to enable continuous data collection from elderly participants and process it to deliver personalized interventions that promote healthy and independent living.

Which types of data and devices are used to feed the platform?

The platform collects data from environmental sources, wearable devices, and the SB@App, using both FHIR and non-FHIR repositories to support interoperability and continuous ingestion.

How does the platform transform collected data into personalized interventions?

Data are transmitted to repositories, analyzed by a Big Data Analytics engine running machine learning workflows, and then summarized in dashboards for clinicians; the Decision Support System provides suggestions for patient-specific intervention alerts.

Aug 5, 2026

Uploaded by Quinn