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

Author(s):  
Nicola Camp ◽  
Martin Lewis ◽  
Kirsty Hunter ◽  
Julie Johnston ◽  
Massimiliano Zecca ◽  
...  

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.

2001 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 133-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra K Weiner ◽  
Thomas E Rudy ◽  
Swati Gaur

BACKGROUND: Persistent pain is grossly undertreated in older adult sufferers, despite its high prevalence in this age group. Because of its multidimensional impacts, including depression, sleep disruption and physical disability, patients with persistent pain often benefit from interdisciplinary pain clinic treatment. This treatment is expensive, however, and may not be required by all patients. The Multiaxial Assessment of Pain (MAP) has demonstrated value in predicting response to treatment in younger adults with persistent pain.OBJECTIVE: To examine the feasibility of a MAP taxonomy for community-dwelling adults age 65 years or older.PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURES: One hundred eight subjects with persistent pain (mean age 73.8 years, SD=8.4 years) were interviewed and data collected on demographics, pain intensity, depressive symptoms, sleep disruption, pain interference with performance of basic and instrumental activities of daily living, frequency of engagement in advanced activities of daily living, cognitive function and comorbidity. A subset of these subjects underwent physical capacities testing, including maximal isometric lift strength, dynamic lifting endurance, timed chair rise and balance.RESULTS: Analyses derived three primary clusters of patients. Cluster 1 (24%) reported less intense pain, less depression and sleep disruption, and higher activity levels. Cluster 3 (30%) suffered from more pain and were more functionally disabled. Cluster 2 (46%) had characteristics of cluster 1 and cluster 3, but with some characteristics that were clearly unique.CONCLUSIONS: While these results are preliminary and require further validation, they indicate that older adults are heterogeneous in their response to persistent pain. Future studies should be performed to examine whether the MAP taxonomy is applicable to older adults regardless of medical diagnosis. Ultimately, this information may have meaning with regard to both treatment prescribing, and the design and interpretation of intervention studies.


Author(s):  
Robyn L Woods ◽  
Sara Espinoza ◽  
Le T P Thao ◽  
Michael E Ernst ◽  
Joanne Ryan ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Cerebrovascular events, dementia and cancer can contribute to physical disability with activities of daily living (ADL). It is unclear whether low-dose aspirin reduces this burden in aging populations. In a secondary analysis, we now examine aspirin’s effects on incident and persistent ADL disability within a primary prevention aspirin trial in community-dwelling older adults. Methods The ASPREE (ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly) trial of daily 100mg aspirin versus placebo recruited 19,114 healthy adults aged 70+ years (65+ years if U.S. minority) in Australia and the U.S. Six basic ADLs were assessed every six months. Incident ADL disability was defined as inability or severe difficulty with ≥1 ADL; persistence was confirmed if the same ADL disability remained after six months. Proportional hazards modelling compared time to incident or persistent ADL disability for aspirin versus placebo; death without prior disability was a competing risk. Results Over a median 4.7 years, incident ADL disability was similar in those receiving aspirin (776/9525) and placebo (787/9589) with walking, bathing, dressing and transferring the most commonly reported. Only 24% of incident ADL disability progressed to persistent. Persistent ADL disability was lower in the aspirin group (4.3 versus 5.3 events/1000py; HR=0.81, 95% CI:0.66-1.00), with bathing and dressing the most common ADL disabilities in both groups. Following persistent ADL disability there were more deaths in the aspirin group (24 versus 12). Discussion Low-dose aspirin in initially healthy older people did not reduce risk of incident ADL disability, although there was evidence of reduced persistent ADL disability.


Author(s):  
Jennifer L Thompson ◽  
Romola S Bucks ◽  
Michael Weinborn ◽  
Steven Paul Woods

Abstract Objective Object location learning and memory may be important for older adults to successfully complete some everyday activities. Method This cross-sectional, correlational study investigated the ecological relevance of the Location Learning Test-Revised (LLT-R) in 195 community-dwelling, older adults in Western Australia. The LLT-R assesses object location learning and memory for everyday objects over five learning trials and after a 30-min delay. Knowledgeable informants provided structured ratings of participants’ activities of daily living and memory symptoms. Results A greater number of errors on LLT-R total learning trials were associated with mild problems in activities of daily living (particularly in travel and household domains), but not with memory symptoms. The LLT-R’s association with activities of daily living was accompanied by a small-to-medium effect size and was not better explained by demographics, global cognitive functioning, mood, or chronic medical conditions. Conclusions Findings provide some support for the ecological relevance of the LLT-R among older community-dwelling adults and suggest that object location learning may play a role in some everyday functioning problems that accompany typical aging.


2013 ◽  
Vol 61 (12) ◽  
pp. 2174-2180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie L. Garrett ◽  
Patricia Sawyer ◽  
Richard E. Kennedy ◽  
Dawn McGuire ◽  
Roger P. Simon ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 43-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham J. McDougall ◽  
Areum Han ◽  
Vincent S. Staggs ◽  
David K. Johnson ◽  
Joan M. McDowd

2002 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Pinquart ◽  
Silvia SÖrensen

Preparation for one's death (e.g., having signed a will, having made preparations for one's funeral) and preparation for future care needs (e.g., having selected a source of support) were investigated in 593 United States and 582 German independently living seniors. The older adults reported higher levels of preparation for death than preparation for care. The lower level of preparation for care is interpreted as reflecting the uncertainty whether care needs will emerge in the future. Seniors who reported some preparation for death were more likely to report preparation for future care needs as well. Older, more educated, and more religious individuals were more likely to prepare for death. In addition, U.S. seniors were more likely to report some death preparation than German seniors. Limitations in activities of daily living did not predict levels of preparation for death. Implications for future research and for psychosocial interventions are discussed.


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