www.astesj.com 158 Analysis and Improvement of an Innovative Solution Through Risk Reduction: Application to Home Care for the Elderly Linda Acosta-Salgado * , Auguste Rakotondranaivo, Eric Bonjour Research Team on Innovation Process (Laboratoire ERPI, EA N° 3767), Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T Article history: Received: 17 January, 2020 Accepted: 27 March, 2020 Online: 08 May, 2020 The increase in the number of elderly people requires multiple efforts to maintain their well-being and health. A wide variety of products and services have been created to enable seniors to live at home for as long as possible. The market success of these solutions depends on acceptance by the different stakeholders. Older people are reluctant to change their environment, most notably their home. Solutions must provide a benefit and/or reduce risks related to their everyday life in order to be accepted. Design methods are mainly focused on needs analysis, while acceptability assessment models are based on the study of benefits. A need may also correspond to a risk that may be present in the initial situation and that has to be eliminated or reduced. The notion of risk is not sufficiently integrated in these models. This paper proposes a new approach to analyze the actual situation of elderly people at home based on risk analysis. The objective is to contribute to the design of solutions that will be more readily accepted by this population. A model for estimating the risk of falling has been proposed. The probability of two elderly people falling in their home is assessed using this model. The design and improvement of solutions are explored using the results obtained. Keywords: Acceptability Acceptance Need Risk Elderly care Healthcare innovation 1. Introduction The ageing of the world’s population is a key issue for the years to come. Demographic trends reveal an increasing proportion of older people and rising life expectancy. According to projections made by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), in 2070, France should have 76.5 million inhabitants, 10.7 million more than in 2013. Specifically, the population aged 65 and over should increase by 11.2 million and those aged 20–64 decrease by 7.9 million [1]. Thus, by 2070, there will be more seniors than younger people to help them. This situation confronts the health field with a major societal challenge: delaying the age of entry into dependency and improving the well-being of the elderly by controlling risks and expenditure [2]. Public policy encourages the creation of new products and services for keeping people at home as long as possible. For the private industrial and commercial sectors, ageing represents an economic opportunity. Technology companies see this segment of the population as an attractive market for products and services that are easy to use and affordable [3]. In recent years, many technological and organizational innovations have been developed to improve elderly home care. These include video-vigilance systems, fall detectors, tele-assistance and home automation equipment. Innovative solutions for the ageing population could increase elderly people’s capabilities and help them to reduce their entry into dependency by transforming their living environment [4]. Hence, they have to satisfy the needs and preferences of multiple stakeholders (older people, their families, caregivers, care structures, etc.). However, these stakeholders are not always in favor of integrating changes into their daily lives [5]. The success of an innovative project is evaluated by its acceptability in the design phase and by its acceptance in the use phase [6]. To promote the acceptance of a product or service, it is necessary to accompany its design process, from the early stages, by evaluating its acceptability [7]. To improve innovation acceptance, the project must provide benefits and/or reduce the risks perceived by its future users. In order to improve the well-being of older people at home and increase the likelihood that innovative solutions will be accepted by their various users, it is important to integrate the notion of risk ASTESJ ISSN: 2415-6698 *Corresponding Author: Linda Acosta-Salgado, Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France. Email: linda.acosta-salgado@univ-lorraine.fr Advances in Science, Technology and Engineering Systems Journal Vol. 5, No. 3, 158-165 (2020) www.astesj.com Special Issue on Multidisciplinary Sciences and Engineering https://dx.doi.org/10.25046/aj050321