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Background Public health recommendations and government measures during the COVID-19 pandemic have enforced restrictions on daily-living. While these measures are imperative to abate the spreading of COVID-19, the impact of these restrictions on mental health and emotional wellbeing is undefined. Therefore, an international online survey (ECLB-COVID19) was launched on April 6, 2020 in seven languages to elucidate the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on mental health and emotional wellbeing. Methods The ECLB-COVID19 electronic survey was designed by a steering group of multidisciplinary scientists, following a structured review of the literature. The survey was uploaded and shared on the Google online-survey-platform and was promoted by thirty-five research organizations from Europe, North-Africa, Western-Asia and the Americas. All participants were asked for their mental wellbeing (SWEMWS) and depressive symptoms (SMFQ) with regard to "during" and "before" home confinement. Results Analysis was conducted on the first 1047 replies (54% women) from Asia (36%), Africa (40%), Europe (21%) and other (3%). The COVID-19 home confinement had a negative effect on both mental-wellbeing and on mood and feelings. Specifically, a significant decrease (p < .001 and Delta% = 9.4%) in total score of the SWEMWS questionnaire was noted. More individuals (+12.89%) reported a low mental wellbeing "during" compared to "before" home confinement. Furthermore, results from the mood and feelings questionnaire showed a significant increase by 44.9% (p < .001) in SMFQ total score with more people (+10%) showing depressive symptoms "during" compared to "before" home confinement. Conclusion The ECLB-COVID19 survey revealed an increased psychosocial strain triggered by the home confinement. To mitigate this high risk of mental disorders and to foster an Active and Healthy Confinement Lifestyle (AHCL), a crisis-oriented interdisciplinary intervention is urgently needed.

Background: Public health recommendations and governmental measures during the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in numerous restrictions on daily living including social distancing, isolation and home confinement. While these measures are imperative to abate the spreading of COVID-19, the impact of these restrictions on health behaviours and lifestyles at home is undefined. Therefore, an international online survey was launched in April 2020, in seven languages, to elucidate the behavioural and lifestyle consequences of COVID-19 restrictions. This report presents the results from the first thousand responders on physical activity (PA) and nutrition behaviours. Methods: Following a structured review of the literature, the "Effects of homeConfinement on multipleLifestyleBehaviours during the COVID-19 outbreak (ECLB-COVID19)" Electronic survey was designed by a steering group of multidisciplinary scientists and academics. The survey was uploaded and shared on the Google online survey platform. Thirty-five research organisations from Europe, North-Africa, Western Asia and the Americas promoted the survey in English, German, French, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese and Slovenian languages. Questions were presented in a differential format, with questions related to responses "before" and "during" confinement conditions. Results: 1047 replies (54% women) from Asia (36%), Africa (40%), Europe (21%) and other (3%) were included in the analysis. The COVID-19 home confinement had a negative effect on all PA intensity levels (vigorous, moderate, walking and overall). Additionally, daily sitting time increased from 5 to 8 h per day. Food consumption and meal patterns (the type of food, eating out of control, snacks between meals, number of main meals) were more unhealthy during confinement, with only alcohol binge drinking decreasing significantly. Conclusion: While isolation is a necessary measure to protect public health, results indicate that it alters physical activity and eating behaviours in a health compromising direction. A more detailed analysis of survey data will allow for a segregation of these responses in different age groups, countries and other subgroups, which will help develop interventions to mitigate the negative lifestyle behaviours that have manifested during the COVID-19 confinement.

Introduction. Developed countries are currently undergoing demographic changes which entail the rising number of senior citizens. This particular demographic group is prone to suffering from numerous chronic diseases. The link between old age and chronic disease e.g. is illustrated by USA population reference bureau1, according to which up to 19 million people need to provide day-today primary assistance to their elderly family members. There are already a number of technologies in use, including digital devices, smart sensors and intelligent applications that assist elderly people with their everyday needs in their own homes. Developing a strategy for an integrated technological solution would resolve many issues faced by elderly patients and would lead to improving their quality of life, health, and safety. The objectives of COST Action CA 16226, Indoor living improvement: Smart Habitat for the Elderly (Sheld-on), Working Group 3 was: to explore the specific needs of elderly on physical and psychological level; to describe social, economic and technological consequences related to the care of elderly, to specify quality of live concept in context of smart environment; to review policies in different countries; to find good practices examples from different countries, in order to promote safe, comfortable and healthy living at home. WHO5 describes healthy ageing as the process of developing and maintaining functional ability that enables well- being in older age. Functional ability comprises the health related attributes that enable people to be and to do what they have reason to value. It is made up of intrinsic capacity of the individual and relevant environmental characteristics and the interactions between individual and these characteristics. Intrinsic capacity is the composite of all the physical and mental capacities of individual. Environment comprises all factors in the extrinsic world that form the context of an individual’s life (from micro level to macro level). Within these environments are a range of factors, including the built environment, people and their relationships, attitudes and values, health and social policies, the systems that support them, and the services that they implement. We took this explanation of functional capacity of older people as base for WG3 report on the state of the art, where we explored needs of older persons in relation to healthcare and smart living spaces and tried to map existing policies and practices regarding healthcare and smart living spaces in order to propose topics for future studies. Report summarizes research done by WG3 members as well as results of additional search of information related to WG3 objectives.