Actively engaged in research & community projects

Working towards delivering age-friendly technologies, services & environments

Our Projects

Current
Postgraduate
Past

To discuss a research idea, find out about our research or volunteer for our outreach projects, contact us or email one of the team.

SEURO

May 2021 - Ongoing

SEURO (Scaling EUROpean citizen driven transferable and transformative digital health) is an EU-funded Horizon 2020 project that aims to advance the ProACT digital health platform. ProACT integrates a wide variety of new and existing technologies to improve and advance home-based integrated care for older people...

Building Digital Bridges

Jan 2021 - Ongoing

Originally part of the Irish Research Council funded CARAH project, the Building Digital Bridges (BDB) project began as a workshop series conducted with a range of community stakeholders seeking to ensure older people in the community could access and use digital technologies to remain socially...

Smart Dementia Care

Jan 2021 - Ongoing

This project, funded by Science Foundation Ireland’s Frontiers of the Future programme and in collaboration with Technological University of Dublin will develop a new digital toolkit that will support someone living with dementia, together with their formal and informal carers, to self-manage their care. Persons...

Paro

Jan 2020 - Ongoing

Providing appropriate stimulation and increasing levels of engagement of people with dementia is considered to positively impact quality of life and wellbeing. The Paro Project explores how people living with dementia interact with a companion robot and the affective, behavioural, and physiological outcomes of robot...

SMILE

Feb 2020 - Ongoing

The SMILE project is funded under the Sláintecare Integration Fund and will deliver a trial of the ProACT system to a new cohort of users. The focus of the SMILE project is to examine the potential of the ProACT platform to reduce unscheduled healthcare service...

The Eastern Corridor Medical Engineering Centre (ECME)

2017 - Ongoing

ECME is a project supported by the EU’s INTERREGVA Programme, managed by the Special EU Programme Body (SEUPB). It is a transformative cross-border research and innovation programme spanning Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland and adopts an inter-disciplinary approach to remote monitoring and home-based self-management for...

ProACT

Jan 2016 - Sep 2019

ProACT (Integrated Technology Systems for ProACTive Patient Centred Care) is an EU-funded Horizon 2020 project in PHC-25-2015. ProACT targets Europe’s 50 million multimorbid patients to proactively self-manage and offset the EU’s annual €700 billion cost of chronic disease management. ProACT aims to develop and evaluate...

Your Wellness

Jan 2012 - Ongoing

The YourWellness application is an iPad application to support people in self-reporting on various aspects of their wellbeing, such as mood, sleep patterns, falls history and to provide feedback on such, in terms of providing a history of one’s wellbeing data over time and information...

CABIE

Jun 2010 - Ongoing

CABIE (Context-Aware Broker and Inference Engine) is a software technology platform to map data from multi-modal sensors to AAL services deployed within older people’s homes. The technology platform solves key software challenges facing the next generation of home-based AAL services, by providing an innovative, integrated...

Below is a list of our postgraduate researchers along with details of their projects.

Exploring older adults’ attitudes towards online psychotherapy

Siofra McCrum

Older adults often face barriers in accessing traditional, face-to-face psychotherapy, e.g., physical limitations, transport, cost, stigma, lack of knowledge of mental health services. Online psychotherapy can offer an alternative for older adults who cannot access...

Evaluating the efficacy and impact of digital health-based mindfulness intervention on emotional wellbeing and glycaemic control in women with gestational diabetes

Prabhadini Godage

The research plan, titled “Evaluating the Efficacy and Impact of Digital Health-Based Mindfulness Interventions on Emotional Wellbeing and Glycaemic Control in Women with Gestational Diabetes,” addresses the complex challenges faced by pregnant women diagnosed with...

The resource needs of Home Health Care Assistants working with community-dwelling older adults in Ireland during the Covid-19 pandemic

Aoibheann Mc Keown

Home health care assistants (HHCAs) support those living in the community to live as independently as possible. HHCAs may provide a range of supports to their clients such as, but not limited to, supporting their...

Exploring behaviours and communications of residents with dementia using the Behavioural Staging Model, and a description of staff responses

Laura Ballantine

As a person with dementia progresses through the illness their needs become more complex and behaviours may become too difficult to manage. Despite families’ best efforts to keep the person at home, the majority of...

An exploration of the potential contribution of mobile health apps in older outpatients’ cardiac care

Yohanca Diaz-Skeete

Heart Failure (HF) is the chief cardiovascular condition leading to hospitalization and re-hospitalization in older adults, with significant cost implications for the State and quality of life of older patients and their families. Medications used...

A Data-Informed View of Engagement with Home-based Digital Self-management for Older Adults with Chronic Conditions

Yiyang Sheng MRes

Ageing populations are resulting in a higher prevalence of people with multiple chronic conditions (multimorbidity). Digital health platforms have great potential to support self-management of multimorbidity: increasing a person’s awareness of their health and well-being,...

The role of nurse-led telephone triage in supporting people with multimorbidity to engage in digital self-management

Patricia McAleer

This study investigates the role of telephone triage nurses (TTNs) in engaging people with multimorbidity (PwMs) in sustained use of digital technologies to self-manage health and wellbeing. The increase in global life expectancy over the...

Non -Pharmacological treatment - An exploration of the effects of human-robot interactions

Berk Zafer

The overall aim of this study is to increase levels of engagement of people with dementia to positively impact quality of life and wellbeing. It will explore how people living with dementia in long-term care...

Here are some of the research projects that are now completed.

Behaviour & Activity Monitoring

Data from the 16 smart-aware apartments at Great Northern Haven (GNH) are being investigated in order to create algorithms to automatically recognize daily behaviours and events. This project focuses on recognising Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and other events from the raw smart home sensor...

BMW Briefings

A Series of three Research Briefing Workshops for SME’s on Building Competitive Advantage in the AAL Market. 1st Briefing SessionEurope’s ageing population is a challenge for our job market and its social and health systems. But it is also an economic and social opportunity. By...

Bosch Telehealth Trial

The Netwell project demonstrated how a telehealth system may help patients better understand their chronic illness and motivate them to change their behaviour to improve self-management of their condition. 10 Mar, 2010 – Netwell Centre in Ireland to conduct telehealth trial using Bosch Telehealth Plus...

BRAID

BRAID aimed to develop a comprehensive research and technological development roadmap for active ageing by consolidating existing roadmaps and by describing and launching a stakeholder co-ordination and consultation mechanism. The BRAID Project proposes to consolidate existing research (roadmaps and perspectives) on Information Communications Technology (ICT)...

CARAH

CARAH was an Irish Research Council funded Living Lab project with an emphasis on collaborative multi-stakeholder engagement in the co-design of inclusive integrated digital and interpersonal solutions for the provision of CARe At Home for older people living in the community. Collaborating with Drogheda Community...

Cúltaca

Cúltaca is one of the major initiatives developed by the Netwell Centre to promote independent living for older people. It empowers older people to make choices about services and supports that they need by developing a personal plan. It assists people in accessing a wide...

Daycare@Home

Without an enhanced model of integrated virtual and in-person service delivery, and the correct, well-tested technology and training to support it, there is a danger that some of those unable to avail of community Day Care services, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, could find...

Discover for Carers

DISCOVER aimed to familiarise carers with digital technologies and embed them in their day-to-day lives. DISCOVER aims to familiarise carers with digital technologies and embed them in their day- to-day lives. Digital technologies can transform the experience of those receiving care, whether this care is...

Falls Prevention

This study, a collaboration between CASALA, University College Dublin and the Health Service Executive proposes to observe how a volunteer group of older people identified as being at mild to moderate risk of falling move and behave over a 5-day period in the Great Northern...

Flourishing with Dementia

Focused on improving the experiences of 35 people with more complex dementia-related challenges, the project will support people to flourish in the community, developing individually tailored personal plans, realising their own potential and connecting to a more dementia-aware community. Greater awareness, skills development, service-brokering, collaborative...

Good Morning Louth

Good-quality information and advice are vital in promoting the independence involvement and interests of older people. Good Morning Louth is a free telephone and advice service to people aged 65+ living in County Louth and bordering areas of Monaghan. Older people who sign up to...

Great Northern Haven

A unique collaboration between the Louth Local Authorities, local Health Service Executive, industry partners, research & development and the older residents. Great Northern Haven is a demonstration housing project consisting of 16 purpose-built smart homes, each equipped with a combination of sensor and interactive technology...

HAIVISIO

The aim of Haivisio is to increase the innovation performance of funded projects and improve their impact through sharing, synergy building and appropriate communication. Haivisio objectives are: Identification and documentation of research and innovation project assets of a selected number of eHealth, Active Ageing and...

Home Security

This project is developing a simple, easy-to-use iPad application to provide peace of mind to the residents of Great Northern Haven before they go to bed. This interface has been developed to ensure that the outside windows and doors are closed and the oven and...

Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home is a trial of an economically sustainable home assistance service which extends elders living independently. This project, now complete, is a trial of an economically sustainable home assistance service to support the extension of independent life at home. Home Sweet Home provides...

INDICATE

October 2013 - October 2016 INDICATE will support stakeholders in the transition towards smart cities by providing an interactive decision support tool for urban planning and design. The tool will assess the interactions between urban objects and spaces, buildings, the electricity grid, renewable technologies and...

Kiduku

July 2013 - June 2016 Kiduku is a collaboration between NetwellCASALA, UCD, Fujitsu Ireland and Fujitsu Laboratories Japan, to explore ways to assist independent living through ICT (information and communication technology). The project is a 3-year programme. This research explores the use of ambient, wearable...

Louth Age Friendly County Initiative

Louth will be the first age-friendly county in Ireland, and will lead the way for others to follow. It is an exciting time to be involved in this flagship initiative. “A plan developed with older people, not for them” The Project was launched in Dundalk...

MAESTRO

MAESTRO is a €3.1 million Ambient Assisted Living [AAL] project funded by the European Commission. The MAESTRO project aims to develop an online portal which will help older people and their care network (formal and informal carers) to find trusted, quality assisted living products and...

Memory Café

The Netwell Memory Café opened in September 2014, run by staff and volunteers managed and associated with the NetwellCASALA. The overriding aim of the Netwell Memory Café is to create a friendly and informal place with a welcoming and relaxed atmosphere where people with memory...

Men’s Sheds

The Louth Community Men’s Shed’s project is designed to help connect men with their community. It recognises and responds to gender differences in behaviour as well as the need to support men to improve their own wellbeing and levels of social interaction. The project values...

Respect

Respect project aimed to ensure that migrant workers are treated with fairness and dignity at work and in society. Reach out to support ethnic diversity is a project supported by the European Union’s Peace III Programme as awarded by Louth Peace and Reconciliation Partnership. Respect...

Respite Care

Respite care refers to formal services designed to provide a break for family carers from the physical and emotional burden of caring. This project is designed to test a new model of respite care in County Louth based on overnight care in the person’s home...

SANDPiT

SANDPiT, the Schools ApplicatioN Development ProjecT is a novel intergenerational project whereby 40 school students and 12 older adults worked together over 9 months to design and prototype technology applications for mobile devices. SANDPiT, the Schools ApplicatioN Development ProjecT is a novel intergenerational project whereby...

SEED

SEED, as part of a SEAI Better Energy Communities project in 2012, formed Ireland’s first large-scale community energy monitoring project using smart technology. The extension from ageing into energy is a natural progression as there are many challenges which run across both spectrums. Several buildings...

SPIRAL

SPIRAL focused on the use of storytelling to facilitate an understanding of the past and a greater appreciation for the benefits of peace in the northeast cross-border region. SPIRAL, an acronym for Storytelling to Promote Intergenerational Reconciliation and Learning, is a project supported by the...

SpONSOR

SpONSOR aims at developing, testing and implementing an ICT platform that facilitates the posting, browsing and exchange of key information between competence-offering seniors and search-based requests, from competence-demanding organisations from the public, private and voluntary sectors. SpONSOR, will significantly enhance senior persons’ access to a...

Teaghlach - Nursing Homes

The Teaghlach Project aims to change the culture of care to support older people to direct their own lives ‘at home’ supported by consistent and valued teams of healthcare staff in an environment reflective as much as possible of the older person’s own home. Most...

The Way we Were

The Way We Were project reflects, remembers and celebrates Dundalk’s railway and captures the daily routines and heritage of pre and post 1950s Dundalk and the adjacent areas of south Armagh, Down, Fermanagh and Antrim. The Way We Were a project supported by the PEACE...

Thinktech

NetwellCASALA and the Irish charity Alone are collaborating on the ThinkTech programme, created by Social Innovation Fund Ireland with support from Google.org and the Irish Government, with the aim of identifying innovative technology ideas that will create positive social impact in Ireland. The THINKTECH award,...