gerontechnology: timely r&d applications for aging people in a rapidly changing society james l....
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Gerontechnology: Timely R&D Applications for Aging People in a Rapidly Changing Society
James L. Fozard, Ph.D.College of Arts and Sciences - School
of Aging Studies University of South Florida
Tampa, FL
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We Live in a Era of Two Big-Time Historical Trends Current and projected relative increases in
older end of society’s age distribution are occurring for the first time in history
Changes in the man-made technological environment are progressing more rapidly than ever before in history
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Older people’s goals—continued functional independence Maintain health as long as possible Maintain functional independence in housing,
transportation, recreation, learning and work Maintain financial resources to live independently Maintain and enhance communication with family and
friends Create new social contacts to substitute for those lost
through death and separation from family
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Rapid changes in the man-made technological environment Historians of technology indicate that some 90% of
the advances in technology occurred during the 20th century
Some examples of widespread technology applications since about 1990 Internet and e-mail; search machines Mobile phone; sms Digital camera Navigation tools (GSM) Games Robots Smart products and systems (adaptive)
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Rapid changes in the man-made technological environment One result is that an old person today has
experienced: First time exposure to new technology at a
relatively advanced age, e.g., navigation systems, robots, Internet
Changes in the user interfaces of established technological products, e.g.,
camera (film to digital), telephone (party line to wireless cell phone), washing machines and other devices
(electro-mechanical to menu-driven controls)
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Framework needed to analyze person-environment interactions Starting in 1990 engineers and gerontologists at the
Technische Universiteit Eindhoven developed the interdisciplinary discipline called gerontechnology. Gerontechnology addresses the following issues: Analyze how best to link technology to needs of aged
and aging people How to involve people in planning for development,
distribution and dispersion of technology Systematically evaluate technology’s age-specific goals
for health, housing, transportation, communication and work and leisure
Study how to utilize the motivating properties of technology
Address policy issues related to technology applications
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Definition: Gerontechnology is
An integrative discipline concerned with
Development, dispersal and distribution of technologically-based products, environments and services that improve the
Functioning and quality of life of Aging and aged persons.
Word is composite of gerontology, the study of aging and technology the creation of technological products, environments and services
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Overview of basic concepts of gerontechnology
Gerontechnology theory connects human aging to environmental change over time
5 Domains of gerontechnology Health and self esteem Housing and everyday activities
Communication and governance Transportation and mobility
Work and leisureRef: Fozard J. Impact of technology interventions on health
and self esteem. Gerontechnology. 2005,4,463-76
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Gerontechnology’s four types of intervention (goals) Prevention and engagement—technology that delays or prevents
age-associated physiological and behavioral changes that restrict human functioning, e.g., accidents lifestyle and environmental factors contributing to allergies, depression and other modifiable conditions
Compensation and assistance—technology that compensates for age-associated losses in strength and perceptual-motor functioning—the most frequent use
Care support and organization—technology used by caregivers of elderly persons with disabilities, e.g., devices that
lift and move physically disabled persons, machines that administer and monitor the use of medications and equipment that provides information about physiological functioning to
remote location Enhancement and Satisfaction
Improve quality of life at all three levels The four interventions are applicable to all 5 domains—health, housing,
etc. Ref: Bronswijk JEMH, Bouma H, Fozard JL. Technology for quality of life: An enriched
taxonomy. Gerontechnology, 2003;2,169-172.
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Gerontechnology Impact matrixSlide courtesy of Prof. Dr. Herman Bouma 5/22/06
Life DomainHealth &
Self-esteem
Housing &
Daily Living
Mobility &
Transport
Communica-
tion & Governance
Work &
Leisure
Goal of Intervention
Enhancement
& Satisfaction
Telemedicine
Internet
Wireless / remote phone
GPS navigation Mobile phone
Internet
Digital camera
Internet
Prevention &
Engagement
Healthy diet
Home trainer
Smart ventilation
“Intelligent” car Video links Focused
lighting
Compensation
& Assistance
Passive
alarms
Smart IADL Rollator/walker
Battery powered wheelchair
Hearing aids Power tools
Robot pet
Care Support & Organization
Smart intake
Control-PDA
Electronic keys Powered lifting Care networks
Video links
Robots
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How does human aging relate to changes in the environment? Gerontechnology systematically links aging to
changes in the environment The dynamics of person/environment interactions
change over time. Continuous changes occur in the environment—called
secular changes Overlapping generations of aging people—called age
cohorts-- who create and use environment are affected differently by environmental change
A person aging from 10 to 20 years starting in 2007 will never experience the changes in the environment experienced by a 60 year old
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Environment
Person
Social Built Natural
Receptors Internal Effectors Structures
Interface
System Output Measure
At any point in time, the Person-Environment Interaction may be analyzed using the well-known human factors approach. System output can be altered by changing the environment, the person, or both.
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What happens when changes over time are added to the model? Adding time to the model, e.g., 10 years, allows us to
consider three additional factors: changes within a person as (s)he ages differences between successive age cohorts
Variability among members within any cohort increases because of individual differences in experience of the environment
secular changes in the environment over time and how they interact with aging
Gerontechnology studies how changes in the environment affect age changes and differences
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Environment
Person
Social Built Natural
Receptors Internal Effectors Structures
Interface Future
Past
Time
Humanaging
Secularchange
System Output Measure
LESSON: BOTH age-related and secular
changes affect system output dynamics
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Summary: environmental change and aging Secular changes in technology are creating dramatic changes in
user interfaces Wireless phones used for watching downloaded TV shows
as well as communication Adaptive robotic technology blurs distinctions between
person to person and person to machine communication and interaction
Experience with one user-technology interface can have negative or positive effects on the ability or willingness of a person to use a new one Within an age cohort, aging results in an increased
interdependence between person and various components of the environment
Adaptation process to secular change varies across age cohorts partly because of variety and amount of earlier experiences
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Putting the 4 gerontechnology interventions to work
The diagram just shown is just the first step in planning gerontechnology interventions
The next steps include identifying: Desired impact, e.g. prevention vs. compensation Target of intervention Site and placement of technology Timing of intervention
Ref: Fozard, JL Impacts of technology interventions on health and self-esteem. Gerontechnology, 2005, 4, 63-76.
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IMPACT?Prevention
Compensation
Care/organization
Enhance
FUNCTION?Physical
Cognitive
Emotional/Social
SystemOutput
Environ- ment
Person
IMPACT?EnhancePreventCompensateCare/organization
TARGET?PhysicalMentalEmotional/social
INTERVENE:TYPE, SITE?Person:Train, motivateSelectPersonalityDemographics
Environment:Built, social, naturalDevice on personDevice: located near or remotely
Time
Planning Practical Application of Gerontechnology Concepts
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How high speed networking can expand scope of gerontechnology Prevention: Coaching in cardiovascular and strength training,
available as never before; simulation of aging Compensation: Smart homes/environments, robots Care/support: High quality home based medical and rehab
services available Enhancement: Promote virtual social and artistic activities;
Facilitate shopping, learning and work at home Common feature of examples is enhanced communication
between people and people, people and machines among machines that themselves are networked
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Networking improves coaching in strength training Prevention is appropriate health-related intervention
to improve functioning, gait quality, lower risk of falls Motivation is major issue for utilizing strength training
—machines can have motivational properties Networking can improve motivation and quality of
feedback from strength training Reinforcement from sharing information by peers doing
similar workouts Wearable transducers provide information on quality
and required number of maneuvers
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Virtual simulations of aging and healthy lifestyles
Since the 1970s, many simulations of age related sensory and mobility limitations have been devised to educate the young Clouded lenses, ear plugs, gloves, weighted shoes
etc. Limitation is lack of linkage of these devices and
preventive and compensatory interventions Virtual reality simulations can improve education
by linking simulations of limitations to effects of compensatory and preventive measures
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Technology for compensation and care interventions Established technologies include
Hearing and vision aids Text to speech converters Electronic memory aids
Emerging technologies include Smart homes and environments Robots Telemedicine Location aware cueing
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High speed networking expands range of gerontechnology Telemedicine and communication
applications using video over Internet Ultra-wideband radio allows for precise
location of persons within a home and communication among appliances
Allows for shopping and business without being tied to desktop PC
Faster interactions in games, virtual simulations and machine guided rehabilitation
New opportunities for personal service robots
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High speed networking and embedded technologies improve enhancement
Aging brings new opportunities for: Adventurous and challenging activities New social opportunities and friendships Artistic expression Learning Work
Technical support for all these activities is currently possible in home settings
High speed networking increases the range of possibilities for these activities
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Challenging activities, social opportunities and friendships
Development of virtual environments and games for older persons is a wide open field for development
Aging brings losses in spouses, family, friends Chat rooms, and virtual communities such as
those sponsored through Seniornet exist now but are not widely used
High speed networking increases the range of possibilities for these activities
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People in this group can envision many advantages of high speed networking!
Aging brings new opportunities for: Artistic expression
Individual Visual: making, copying and altering digital images;
drawing, animation and cartoons etc. using existing software
Auditory: create, arrange, add music to visual scenes using contemporary software
Bouma H, Harrington TL Information and communication. In TL Harrrington, MK Harrington Gerontechnology: Why and How Maastricht NL: Shaker Publishing 2000 pp.156-159
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High speed networking potential for learning, work Aging brings new opportunities for Learning,
Work There are many existing examples of how
technology makes it possible to learn “on line” and work at home or in a remote setting. Japanese program of “Kaizen” is recent exampleRef: www.seniornet.org;www.gerontechnology.org
Demographics described earlier highlight importance of continued work and learning by older persons
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High speed networking and basic gerontological research A major goal of fundamental gerontological research
is to describe changes in physiological, biochemical and behavioral systems over time as organism ages
About 35-40 longitudinal studies of human aging are being conducted worldwide. They are expensive and difficult to carry out
High speed networking can increase the verisimilitude, scope and complexity of monitoring of human functioning in natural environmental settings thereby facilitating study of aging cross cultural and specific environmental settings
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Summary and Conclusions
Combination of aging and society and ever more rapid evolution of technology brings new challenges and opportunities for linking people to the man-made environment
Gerontechnology studies changing person-environment interactions for human benefit
4 classes of gerontechnology interventions are applied to 5 areas of human activity
High speed networking and embedded technologies increase scope of gerontechnology