Human-Centered Assistive Technologies and Artificial Intelligence for Chronic Care and Independent Living

Dear Colleagues,

Chronic diseases, population aging, and the growing complexity of health and social care needs are accelerating the adoption of assistive technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) to support older adults across healthcare, community, long-term care, and home settings. Assistive technologies, digital health platforms, remote monitoring systems, virtual and augmented reality, wearable devices, robotics, and AI-enabled services offer new opportunities to promote autonomy, rehabilitation, care coordination, social participation, and quality of life.

Effective translation of these technologies into real-world care environments requires rigorous design, integration, and validation. Key challenges include usability and accessibility, sensor and algorithm performance, data quality, interoperability with existing digital infrastructures, reliability, personalization, and robustness across heterogeneous users and settings. Human–computer interaction also needs particular attention, as does the evaluation of technical, clinical, and functional outcomes.

This Special Issue welcomes original research, reviews, case studies, and methodological contributions that focus on the design, development, integration, validation, and real-world evaluation of assistive technologies and AI for chronic care and independent living. Topics of interest include AI-enabled decision support, sensing and remote monitoring, wearable and robotic systems, virtual and augmented reality, rehabilitation technologies, interoperable digital health platforms, and user-centered evaluation of technology performance, usability, effectiveness, functional independence, and quality of life. 

Dr. Gabriella Facchinetti
Dr. Mirko Rossi
Guest Editors

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