The DAT service, an integrated approach to improve independence at home

The DAT Service - located in Milan, Italy, within the premises of the Don Gnocchi Rehabilitation Institute - is a comprehensive service that includes a smart home environment, occupational therapy facilities, and a permanent exhibition of assistive devices for mobility, activities of daily life and communication. Overall, this service offers the opportunity for people with disabilities to undertake rehabilitation and educational programmes aimed at improving their ability to independently cope in their home environment. The DAT service is designed to serve a broad range of clients, including people with orthopaedic and neurological diseases, children as well as adults and frail elderly people. The core of the DAT service is the smart home, a 130 m ² flat composed of 7 rooms (entrance, kitchen, living room, office, bathroom, and two bedrooms) and equipped with advanced solutions for independence, security and safety. The smart home was designed according to a hidden technology concept and looks like a traditional home. The subsystems of the smart home technological infrastructure include: climate control, lighting, safety & security, video surveillance, emergency, doors & windows control, ICT & multimedia. In order to accommodate the different requirements of the various DAT clients, the smart home can be easily configured by the therapist in relation to the individual client's need by means of a purposely developed software tool, which allows to activate the selected automation function and to configure their parameters. User empowerment is the key objective of the service. To this end, a multidisciplinary team (including physicians, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, psychologist bioengineers) works with the clients to help them assess their needs, set objectives and find out the proper solutions to improve their independence. Within the smart home, the DAT service also offers the possibility of individualized education and training on the assistive solutions, in real daily life settings.