Dynamic homecare service provisioning architecture

Abstract

The realization of homecare services is difficult because of dynamicity requirements and constraints that exist in this domain. These requirements call for a dynamic service provisioning, i.e., adaptivity and adaptability of the (composition of) homecare services in response to a) frequently occurring changes like change in the location or vital signs, or b) slowly developing changes like extent of impairments of a care-receiver. In this paper, we explain our understanding of a dynamic service provisioning platform, its requirements and constraints. As such, we design an architecture based on an existing hybrid service provisioning approach (a combination of process and rule) and related architectural patterns. Then, we implement this approach using the commercially available process and rule engines. We demonstrate how a homecare application can be deployed, executed and how the application can adapt itself to the frequently occurring changes at runtime. We also demonstrated how a care-giver can modify the behaviour of the application to adapt the slowly occurring changes. Finally, we discuss the pros and cons of the approach and explain our future plan.