Robotic Assistant for Elderly Care – Development and Evaluation

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natasa Koceska ◽  
◽  
Saso Koceski ◽  
Vasko Sazdovski ◽  
Domenico Ciambrone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Interpersonal Communication ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Elderly Care ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Active Ageing ◽  
Control Paradigm ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Care Of Elderly ◽  
Robotic Assistant

Robots perform a variety of tasks and serve various purposes in the medical/health and social care sectors. Recently, interest has been growing in developing robotic assistants for health-related care of elderly people. These robotic systems can be used to improve the life of elderly, ensuring healthy and active ageing, thus extending the life expectancy of the elderly in their familiar home environments. In this paper, we present a low-cost telepresence robotic assistant that can assist elderly and professional caregivers in everyday activities. The robot can be operated manually or by using a shared control paradigm. The robot can also be used for interpersonal communication, thus favoring social integration. The developed robot and its navigation capabilities have been evaluated in simulations and experiments, and the evaluation results are reported.

HOME CARE IN OUTPATIENT CARE – STATE AND DEVELOPMENT IN BULGARIA

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 571-574
Author(s):  
Ivanka Stambolova ◽  
Stefan Stambolov
Keyword(s):  
Home Care ◽  
Outpatient Care ◽  
Care Service ◽  
Elderly Care ◽  
Care Center ◽  
Elderly Person ◽  
Chronically Ill ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Health And Social Care

In outpatient care the home care, including hospices, is recognized as a model for providing quality, cost-effective and charitable care. The focus is mainly on the care that helps everyday lifeof the patient as well as the relatives, rather than on treatment, and in most cases it takes place in the patients' home. In Europe, in recent years there has been a real "boom" in home care due to demographic processes linked to increased needs for elderly care and chronically ill under the conditions of limited financial resources.In outpatient medical care in our country by means of a national framework contract there are regulated visits to the patient's home by a doctor, as well as visits by medical staff employed by him - nurse, midwife, medical assistant / paramedic / for manipulation, counseling and monitoring. At the same time there is no regulated legal activity in the Republic of Bulgaria, which is essentially the subject of home care.Since 1994 „Caritas“ has carried out the "Home Care" service, which provides a complex - health and social care for over 360 sick adults in a place where the elderly person feels the most comfortable - in their own home. „Caritas Home Care“ is provided by mobile teams of nurses and social assistants who visit the elderly at home and provide them with the necessary care according to their health and social needs.With the establishment of the first „Home Care Center“ in Lozenets region, Sofia, with the support of the PHARE ACCESS program in 2003, the Bulgarian Red Cross introduces in Bulgaria an integrated model for provision of health care and social services in the home of adults, chronically ill and people with permanent disabilities. To date, there are a number of problems in home care related to the realization of home care for patients in need in out-of-hospital settings: lack of legal regulation for home care, lack of qualified staff in outpatient care; lack of organization and structures for care; unsettled funding and the inability of the part of the population that is most in need of care to pay for it, there is no regulation to control the activity. Although home care began over 20 years ago, our country is yet to make its way to the European program called „Home care in Europe“.

scholarly journals Health-Related Effects of the Elderly Care Program

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young-Eun Kim ◽  
Seok-Won Hong
Keyword(s):  
Medical Care ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Elderly Care ◽  
Depression Scale ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Care Utilization ◽  
Propensity Score Method ◽  
Medical Expenses ◽  
Hospitalization Costs ◽  
Health Related

Objectives. This study aimed to determine the health-related effects of elderly care through the elderly program (ECEP) compared to those who were put on standby. Methods. Analysis was conducted concerning the demographic characteristics and chronic disease prevalence status of 108,803 ECEP participants from 2007 to 2013 and 33,932 recipients of elderly care by the elderly (ECE) in 2013. A survey was conducted to determine the effects of emotional support on 508 elders who received ECE in 2014. To determine the effect of elderly care by participation, a comparative analysis was performed using the propensity score method and a differences-in-differences model. Statistical tests were performed on these study subjects’ medical expenses and utilization of medical care, while they participated in the ECEP. Results. ECEP participants incurred a lower total medical expense increase by US$431.94, US$75.54 lower copayment, US$357.60 lower insurance payment, and US$403.04 lower hospitalization costs, compared to the elders who were on standby. Furthermore, a significant decrease was observed in the number of days of hospitalization, even in the case of medical care utilization. Those who were receiving elderly care scored an average of 7.70 points on the Short Geriatric Depression Scale. 51% of these individuals showed a significantly high level of depression, with a score of 8 points or higher, which is a criterion for screening for depression. Conclusions. The present study showed differences in medical expenses and the utilization of medical care associated with ECEP.

scholarly journals IndoorCare: Low-Cost Elderly Activity Monitoring System through Image Processing

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (18) ◽  
pp. 6051
Author(s):  
Daniel Fuentes ◽  
Luís Correia ◽  
Nuno Costa ◽  
Arsénio Reis ◽  
José Ribeiro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Assisted Living ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Elderly Care ◽  
Ambient Assisted Living ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Case Scenario ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Socially Excluded

The Portuguese population is aging at an increasing rate, which introduces new problems, particularly in rural areas, where the population is small and widely spread throughout the territory. These people, mostly elderly, have low income and are often isolated and socially excluded. This work researches and proposes an affordable Ambient Assisted Living (AAL)-based solution to monitor the activities of elderly individuals, inside their homes, in a pervasive and non-intrusive way, while preserving their privacy. The solution uses a set of low-cost IoT sensor devices, computer vision algorithms and reasoning rules, to acquire data and recognize the activities performed by a subject inside a home. A conceptual architecture and a functional prototype were developed, the prototype being successfully tested in an environment similar to a real case scenario. The system and the underlying concept can be used as a building block for remote and distributed elderly care services, in which the elderly live autonomously in their homes, but have the attention of a caregiver when needed.

scholarly journals SOCIAL CAPITAL AMONG AGEING RESIDENTS OF HOUSING COMPLEXES IN SUBURBAN TOKYO: THE CASE OF HARAICHI-DANCHI AND OYAMADAI-DANCHI IN AGEO CITY

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadhirah Nordin ◽  
Hitoshi Nakamura
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Active Ageing ◽  
Ageing Population ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Bonding Social Capital ◽  
Bridging Social Capital ◽  
Health And Social Care

Globally, developed nations such as Japan are currently facing an ageing population. The health and social care system in the living environment for the elderly population in Japan must engender strong social ties and social networks that can connect the elderly people and promote active ageing. This research aims to identify the extent of social capital among the ageing population in Haraichi-danchi and Oyamadai-danchi, which are housing complexes located in Ageo City, a suburb of Tokyo. This article focuses on residents in the 60s and 70s age groups. A questionnaire survey was conducted and was divided into three parts which include the basic attributes of the residents, the elements of bonding social capital and bridging social capital. Then, cross-tabulations were done between the age groups and both the social capital categories. Next, chi-square and further post-hoc analyses were conducted to determine the strongest association between the variables. The results show a significant association between the 60s and 70s age groups for both bonding and bridging social capital. The variation of results may be influenced by the physical environment of the housing complexes in which they are currently living.

Influencing Actions-Related Decisions Using Soft Computing Approaches

2015 ◽  
pp. 123-136
Author(s):  
Frederick E. Petry ◽  
Ronald R. Yager
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Soft Computing ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Communication Techniques ◽  
Human Agent ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Robotic Assistant ◽  
Decision Making Behavior ◽  
Favorable Light

This chapter describes soft computing approaches for human-agent communications in the context of influencing decision-making behavior for health-related actions. Several methods are illustrated including using a person's predispositions and generalization techniques that allow issues to be viewed in a more favorable light with social interaction persuasion tendencies modeled with soft computing. The context of a robotic assistant for the elderly is used to illustrate the various communication techniques. Hierarchical generalization is introduced as a technique for generating potential alternatives in choices that might be more broadly acceptable to an individual who is being motivated towards a better choice. Finally, the related topic of negotiations using some the developed techniques is presented.

scholarly journals TV-Based Caring Videophone System for the Elderly in the Smart Home Environment

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingshuang Shen ◽  
Chongyang Zhang ◽  
Chuanwen Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Health ◽  
Interactive Video ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Evaluation Model ◽  
Elderly Care ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Physical And Psychological Health ◽  
Video And Audio ◽  
Remote Controller

A novel videophone system for the elderly-care application is proposed. Based on the detailed analysis of the elderly’s physical and psychological characteristics, a TV-based caring videophone system for the elderly is developed: an embedded multimedia device is designed to implement the interactive video and audio processing and IP-based communication, in which TV is adopted as the display terminal to achieve a low-cost but high-quality service. Considering the user’s convenience, many personalized designs, such as photo-based address book, photo-click-dialing, and touch pad based remote controller, are developed to make the proposed videophone system more intuitive and easy to use for the elderly. Based on Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithms, an evaluation model is also developed with the data collected from the embedded multimedia device. It is useful to evaluate the physical and psychological health of the elderly.

scholarly journals Gender Issues in the Care of Elderly: A Narrative Review

2021 ◽  
pp. 025371762110215
Author(s):  
Shruti Nair ◽  
Neena Sawant ◽  
Harish Thippeswamy ◽  
Geetha Desai
Keyword(s):  
Physical Health ◽  
Aging Process ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Elderly Care ◽  
Process Variations ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Health Demands ◽  
Care Of Elderly

Aging is an inevitable physiological process. A significant increase has been noted in the elderly population over the years. Aging population face challenges with physical health conditions, but also mental health problems. Care of the elderly is influenced by health conditions, health services, as well socio cultural factors. Gender plays an important role in the aging process with significant differences noted in the aging process, variations in health conditions as well care received. The current review addresses the role of gender in the aging process and its influence in the prevalence, clinical presentation and course of various mental and physical health conditions in the elderly. The review identifies gaps in understanding the gender perspectives related to long-term elderly care, legal and financial issues. The review emphasizes the necessity to address the gender perspective in aging to adequately meet the health demands of the elderly.

Integrative Geriatric Medicine

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Weil
Keyword(s):  
Independent Living ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Geriatric Medicine ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Patient Centered ◽  
Geriatric Population ◽  
Care Of Elderly ◽  
Standard Practices ◽  
Outpatient Settings

This book is a detailed, evidence-based reference on the field of integrative geriatric medicine. It is intended for all healthcare providers and advocates who work with the geriatric population—in outpatient settings and nursing homes, assisted and independent living facilities, and senior community centers. In addition, it will provide valuable information for leaders and politicians who are involved with implementing policies and procedures for the care of elderly patients and who are looking for safer, less costly, and more patient-centered approaches. Integrative geriatrics is a new field of medicine that advocates for a whole-person, patient-centered, primarily non-pharmacological approach to medical care of the elderly. Most current geriatric practices overprescribe medications and procedures and underutilize non-pharmacological, low-cost, high-touch methods. Patients, however, often show reluctance toward these standard practices because they often involve invasive interventions. The practice of integrative geriatrics is rooted in lifestyle interventions, such as nutrition, movement therapies, and mind-body and spirituality approaches, that allow patients to take a different path to their health, one that utilizes pharmaceuticals and invasive procedures only when safer integrative approaches are not available or not effective.

scholarly journals An Elderly Care System Based on Multiple Information Fusion

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Zhiwei He ◽  
Dongwei Lu ◽  
Yuxiang Yang ◽  
Mingyu Gao
Keyword(s):  
Information Acquisition ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Elderly Care ◽  
Social Economy ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Control Board ◽  
Video Images ◽  
Global Trend ◽  
Other Information ◽  
Care System

With the development of social economy in the 21st century, and the rising of medical level, the aging of population have become a global trend. However lots of elderly people are in “empty nest” state. In order to solve the problem of high risk of daily life in this group, this paper proposed a method to integrate the information of video images, sound, infrared, pulse, and other information into the elderly care system. The whole system consists of four major components, that is, the main control board, the information acquisition boards, the server, and the client. The control board receives, processes and analyzes the data collected by the information acquisition boards, and uploads necessary information to the server, which are to be saved to the database. When something unexpected occurs to the elderly, the system will notify the relatives through the GPRS (general packet radio service) module. The system also provides an interface for the relatives to inquire the living status of the elderly through an app. The system can monitor the living status for the elderly with the characteristics of quick response, high accuracy, and low cost and can be widely applied to the elderly care at home.

scholarly journals THE ELDERLY CARE, ACTIVE AGEING AND GERAGOGY: COULD THEY CO-EXIST IN UKRAINE AND HOW?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tetyana Semigina ◽  
Andrii Karkach
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Elderly People ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Elderly Care ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Active Ageing ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Social Patterns ◽  
The University

Ukraine belongs to ‘greying’ nations and has one of the worst health profiles in the European region, characterized by high mortality, morbidity, and disability rates. In early 1990s, the country had in-herited the Soviet paternalistic model of social welfare with no professional social workers. Since that time the new services for elderly people have been gradually introduced. Looking through lenses of a number of theoretical concepts (the institutional framework, concept of dependency and geragogy theory) the chapter reviews the key features of the Ukrainian model of elderly care built up in 1990-2020 and the peculiarities of modern social work with elderly people. It reflects the country’s controversial experience of balancing the indigenous social patterns of paternalism, famial-istic informal care, marketization of social services, and professionalization of social work. The case of the municipal social service for elderly persons operating in Poltava region is presented. The spe-cial focus is made on specific interventions implemented in order to encourage older people to use computer and information technology in their daily lives, and to overcome digital inequalities in today's information and network society. The educational activities for elderly people undertaken in this centre within the University of Third Age were evaluated.

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