A major research initiative, launched in April 2002, consisted of three phases:

	Phase One: Focus on physical and cognitive decline, especially on technologies that will help tomorrow's elderly population to age in place from wherever they and their families choose
	Phase Two: Address the needs of those with common chronic conditions like cancer and cardiovascular disease.
	Phase Three: Focus on wellness, including nutrition, physical fitness, and mental health.

Across all three phases, Intel focused on understanding how technology can support behaviors that help prevent disease, foster independence, and improve quality of life. Each phase of the project consisted of three types of research. First, ethnographic field research was conducted in people's homes to identify their needs, through observation and interviews. Then, field results were applied to develop and test early prototypes of future home systems that could help to meet the health needs of the entire household. Finally, outcome studies of more developed prototype systems were conducted, to determine whether or not such systems lead to positive outcomes.

The complex problems addressed in the Proactive Health Strategic Research Project were beyond the capability of any one organization to solve. In conducting this research, the objective was to catalyze a research ecosystem of universities, industry labs, and government agencies to assist in this effort. Key collaborators include Intel Research Seattle, the University of Washington, the Oregon Health and Science University, the University of Rochester, and Georgia Tech. In addition, ideas were exchanged and knowledge shared with other university, industry, and government researchers through conferences, workshops, and articles.

The goal of this research was to develop technology to enable the aging to continue living meaningful lives at home.

Researchers focused on how to deliver quality care to a rapidly growing population of older adults--historically the most expensive demographic to treat--while reducing the nation's healthcare costs. The solution can be enabled by a range of proactive computing technologies in the digital home enabling seniors to "age in place," maintaining their independence and deferring more costly institutional care as long as possible.

This study focused on households that are dealing with everything from mild cognitive impairment to the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease.

The combination of social isolation, inactivity and failing nutrition is alarmingly common among today's aging population, but information technology may offer the means to counteract a harmful outcome. Intel has taken the initiative to invest in research and development of wireless sensor networks, recognizing this technology as crucial to address the pending global age wave and public health crisis.
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Prototypes of smart homes, equipped with a network of sensors that track and monitor everything from cooking habits to purchasing activities to level and quality of physical movement, were built and tested. One potential outcome of this research is the early detection of the onset of dementia by monitoring changes in activity patterns and levels. A broader goal was to use the sensor data to build assistive technologies that support and enhance people's abilities to conduct normal daily activities, by providing an appropriate level of support without making people prematurely dependent on technology-based assistance.

Burnout is a major problem among the caregivers of people with cognitive or physical disability. The same sensor network used for activity tracking could allow a caregiver to take a nap or pursue other activities while the system monitors safety throughout the home. New communication technologies that would allow remote households to participate in monitoring and, more importantly, providing social support from a distance, were also explored. The goal is not to replace the caregiver with technology but to apply technology to ease logistical burdens, so the caregiver can spend more time engaging in meaningful activities with the people in their care.

Research efforts also focused on adaptive and distributed interfaces to assistive technologies within the home. These interfaces would go well beyond the mouse-and-keyboard setup. The goal is to have a variety of interfaces—on telephones, televisions, PDAs or other electronic devices—distributed throughout the home, within easy reach of the person needing assistance. The particular interfaces used would depend on what is most familiar and comfortable for the person needing assistance. Longer term, the hope is to create interfaces that can assess the current level of a person's cognitive function and adjust to provide the appropriate level of assistance. Given the day-to-day variability of cognitive function in many households, one day the system may only need to remind a person to cook, while the next day it may have to provide detailed instructions on how to prepare a meal.