Older adults’ perceptions of wearable technology hip protectors: implications for further research and development strategies

Abstract Technology research and development often exclude older adults with disabilities from participating in the design process. As a result, technologies may not be useful or usable by older adults with diverse abilities. This symposium, featuring projects at the TechSAge Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center, highlights ongoing efforts toward inclusive design, representing unique approaches to engage older adults with disabilities and their stakeholders in the research and development of technology supports. First, Mitzner et al., will describe the development of an online, group Tai Chi intervention, and the integral involvement of older adults with mobility disabilities, the exercise program developers, and technology partner in all steps of the process. Exploring the potential of voice-activated assistants, like Amazon Alexa, to support health management activities of older adults with mobility disabilities, Kadlyak et al. will present findings from a needs assessment of the target population and user testing in the lab and home environments. Koon et al. will present findings from a subject matter expert interview study with caregivers and medical professionals designed to identify the scope of activity challenges among people aging with long-term mobility and sensory disabilities that should be explored in more depth through our future interview study with the target population. Sanford et al., will describe a student design competition and hackathon that incorporates immersive experiences with people aging with disabilities to inspire innovative design concepts that respond to the needs of real people. NIDILRR Project Officer, Anne Ordway, will serve as the discussant.

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Technology Used to Recognize Activities of Daily Living in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18010163 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 163

Author(s):

Nicola Camp ◽

Martin Lewis ◽

Kirsty Hunter ◽

Julie Johnston ◽

Massimiliano Zecca ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Activities Of Daily Living ◽

Daily Living ◽

Wearable Technology ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Use Of Technology ◽

Key Stakeholders ◽

Environmental Technologies ◽

Current Monitoring ◽

Future Work

The use of technology has been suggested as a means of allowing continued autonomous living for older adults, while reducing the burden on caregivers and aiding decision-making relating to healthcare. However, more clarity is needed relating to the Activities of Daily Living (ADL) recognised, and the types of technology included within current monitoring approaches. This review aims to identify these differences and highlight the current gaps in these systems. A scoping review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA-ScR, drawing on PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Articles and commercially available systems were selected if they focused on ADL recognition of older adults within their home environment. Thirty-nine ADL recognition systems were identified, nine of which were commercially available. One system incorporated environmental and wearable technology, two used only wearable technology, and 34 used only environmental technologies. Overall, 14 ADL were identified but there was variation in the specific ADL recognised by each system. Although the use of technology to monitor ADL of older adults is becoming more prevalent, there is a large variation in the ADL recognised, how ADL are defined, and the types of technology used within monitoring systems. Key stakeholders, such as older adults and healthcare workers, should be consulted in future work to ensure that future developments are functional and useable.

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Research Progress on Natural Product Ingredients’ Therapeutic Effects on Parkinson’s Disease by Regulating Autophagy

Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine ◽

10.1155/2021/5538200 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2021 ◽

pp. 1-11

Author(s):

Sicong Li ◽

Xu Sun ◽

Lei Bi ◽

Yujia Tong ◽

Xin Liu

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Natural Products ◽

Research And Development ◽

Neurodegenerative Disease ◽

Natural Product ◽

Research Progress ◽

Therapeutic Effects ◽

Middle Aged

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease in middle-aged and older adults. Abnormal proteins such as α-synuclein are essential factors in PD’s pathogenesis. Autophagy is the main participant in the clearance of abnormal proteins. The overactive or low function of autophagy leads to autophagy stress. Not only is it difficult to clear abnormal proteins but also it can cause damage to neurons. In this article, the effects of natural products ingredients, such as salidroside, paeoniflorin, curcumin, resveratrol, corynoxine, and baicalein, on regulating autophagy and protecting neurons were discussed in detail to provide a reference for the research and development of drugs for the treatment of PD.

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Towards a Gerontoludic Manifesto

Anthropology & Aging ◽

10.5195/aa.2015.104 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 36 (2) ◽

pp. 112-120 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Bob De Schutter ◽

Vero Vanden Abeele

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Research And Development ◽

Digital Games ◽

Older Age ◽

Age Related ◽

Physical Limitations ◽

Game Industry

Digital games have become an important part of the technoscape, not only for youngsters, but for players of all ages. Older adults are a large, currently still largely untapped market for innovative game research and development. However, the current discourse on games and ageing can largely be categorized into two themes. The first theme refers to digital games framed as a way for older adults to improve certain skills. The useful, pragmatic qualities, rather than the fun, hedonic aspects of games are emphasized. The second theme identifies the various age-related constraints that prevent older adults from playing. It focuses on the cognitive and physical limitations of older adults. Underlying both themes is a reductionist perspective on ageing as merely a process of decline and debilitation. In this article, we present a “gerontoludic” manifesto. Firstly, games should not be marketed solely as having the purpose of dealing with or mitigating age-related decline and focus on positive aspects of older age (adagio 1: growth over decline). Secondly, age-related adjustments should never interfere with the actual gameplay of the game (adagio 2: playfulness over usefulness). Finally, game researchers and game industry should put more efforts in understanding what differentiates elderly players, rather than seeing them as united in their age-related impairments (adagio 3: heterogeneity over unification). As this manifesto is a first step that needs further abutment by a wider community, we welcome debate and additions from game designers and researchers to further this manifesto and to move beyond ageism in games.

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The Predictive Performance of Objective Measures of Physical Activity Derived From Accelerometry Data for 5-Year All-Cause Mortality in Older Adults: National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey 2003–2006

The Journals of Gerontology Series A ◽

10.1093/gerona/glz193 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 75 (9) ◽

pp. 1779-1785 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Ekaterina Smirnova ◽

Andrew Leroux ◽

Quy Cao ◽

Lucia Tabacu ◽

Vadim Zipunnikov ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Older Adults ◽

Logistic Regression ◽

National Health ◽

Predictive Performance ◽

Wearable Technology ◽

Living Environment ◽

Activity Count ◽

All Cause Mortality ◽

Nutritional Examination Survey

Abstract Background Declining physical activity (PA) is a hallmark of aging. Wearable technology provides reliable measures of the frequency, duration, intensity, and timing of PA. Accelerometry-derived measures of PA are compared with established predictors of 5-year all-cause mortality in older adults in terms of individual, relative, and combined predictive performance. Methods Participants aged between 50 and 85 years from the 2003–2006 National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES, n = 2,978) wore a hip-worn accelerometer in the free-living environment for up to 7 days. A total of 33 predictors of 5-year all-cause mortality (number of events = 297), including 20 measures of objective PA, were compared using univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Results In univariate logistic regression, the total activity count was the best predictor of 5-year mortality (Area under the Curve (AUC) = 0.771) followed by age (AUC = 0.758). Overall, 9 of the top 10 predictors were objective PA measures (AUC from 0.771 to 0.692). In multivariate regression, the 10-fold cross-validated AUC was 0.798 for the model without objective PA variables (9 predictors) and 0.838 for the forward selection model with objective PA variables (13 predictors). The Net Reclassification Index was substantially improved by adding objective PA variables (p < .001). Conclusions Objective accelerometry-derived PA measures outperform traditional predictors of 5-year mortality, including age. This highlights the importance of wearable technology for providing reproducible, unbiased, and prognostic biomarkers of health.

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PROSPECTS OF ONION CULTIVATION IN THE WARM-TEMPERATE HILLS OF EASTERN NEPAL AND ITS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES FOR COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION

Acta Horticulturae ◽

10.17660/actahortic.1997.433.5 ◽

1997 ◽

pp. 83-94 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

S.R. Gautam ◽

G. Neupane ◽

B.H. Baral ◽

P.G. Rood ◽

L. Pun

Keyword(s):

Research And Development ◽

Development Strategies ◽

Commercial Production ◽

Warm Temperate

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Post-Fukushima Research and Development Strategies and Priorities for Water Cooled Reactor Technology Development

Volume 4: Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Coupled Codes; Decontamination and Decommissioning, Radiation Protection, Shielding, and Waste Management; Workforce Development, Nuclear Education and Public Acceptance; Mitigation Strategies for Beyond Design Basis Events; Risk Management ◽

10.1115/icone24-60877 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Katsumi Yamada ◽

Abdallah Amri ◽

Lyndon Bevington ◽

Pal Vincze

Keyword(s):

Research And Development ◽

International Organizations ◽

Nuclear Power ◽

Power Plants ◽

Development Strategies ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Member States ◽

North East ◽

Severe Accidents ◽

Fukushima Daiichi

The Great East Japan Earthquake and the subsequent tsunami on 11 March 2011 initiated accident conditions at several nuclear power plants (NPPs) on the north-east coast of Japan and developed into a severe accident at the Fukushima Daiichi NPP, which highlighted a number of nuclear safety issues. After the Fukushima Daiichi accident, new research and development (R&D) activities have been undertaken by many countries and international organizations relating to severe accidents at NPPs. The IAEA held, in cooperation with the OECD/NEA, the International Experts’ Meeting (IEM) on “Strengthening Research and Development Effectiveness in the Light of the Accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant” at IAEA Headquarters in Vienna, Austria, 16–20 February 2015. The objective of the IEM was to facilitate the exchange of information on these R&D activities and to further strengthen international collaboration among Member States and international organizations. One of the main conclusions of the IEM was that the Fukushima Daiichi accident had not identified completely new phenomena to be addressed, but that the existing strategies and priorities for R&D should be reconsidered. Significant R&D activities had been already performed regarding severe accidents of water cooled reactors (WCRs) before the accident, and the information was very useful for predicting and understanding the accident progression. However, the Fukushima Daiichi accident highlighted several challenges that should be addressed by reconsidering R&D strategies and priorities. Following this IEM, the IAEA invited several consultants to IAEA Headquarters, Vienna, Austria, 12–14 May 2015, and held a meeting in order to discuss proposals on possible IAEA activities to facilitate international R&D collaboration in relation to severe accidents and how to effectively disseminate the information obtained at the IEM. The IAEA also held Technical Meeting (TM) on “Post-Fukushima Research and Development Strategies and Priorities” at IAEA Headquarters, Vienna, Austria, 15–18 December 2015. The objective of this meeting was to provide a platform for experts from Member States and international organizations to exchange perspectives and information on strategies and priorities for R&D regarding the Fukushima Daiichi accident and severe accidents in general. The experts discussed R&D topic areas that need further attention and the benefits of possible international cooperation. This paper discusses lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi accident based on the presentations and discussions at the meetings mentioned above, and identifies the needs for further R&D activities to develop WCR technologies to cope with Fukushima Daiichi-type accidents.

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Development of a stick-on hip protector: A multiple methods study to improve hip protector design for older adults in the acute care environment

Journal of Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies Engineering ◽

10.1177/2055668319877314 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

pp. 205566831987731

Author(s):

E Post ◽

V Komisar ◽

J Sims-Gould ◽

AMB Korall ◽

F Feldman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Acute Care ◽

Health Professionals ◽

Biomechanical Testing ◽

User Testing ◽

Hip Protector ◽

Care Environment ◽

Hip Protectors ◽

Hospital Patients ◽

User Compliance

Introduction Over 90% of hip fractures in older adults result from falls, and hospital patients are at especially high risk. Specific types of wearable hip protectors have been shown to reduce hip fracture risk during a fall by up to 80%, but user compliance has averaged less than 50%. We describe the development and evaluation of a “stick-on” hip protector (secured over the hip with a skin-friendly adhesive) for older patients in acute care. Methods An initial version of the product was evaluated with six female patients (aged 76–91) in a hospital ward, who were asked to wear it for one week. We subsequently refined the product through biomechanical testing and solicited feedback from 43 health professionals on a second prototype. Results The first prototype was worn by five of six patients for the full week or duration of their hospital stay. The second prototype (20 mm thick, surface area 19 × 15.5 cm) provided 36% force attenuation, more than common garment-based models (20–21%). Feedback from patients and health professionals highlighted usability, comfort, cost, and appearance. Conclusions Our results from biomechanical and user testing support the need for further work to determine the value of stick-on hip protectors in acute care.

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