scholarly journals A Study on Appearance Acceptance Appraisal of Elderly Mobility Assists

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 10547
Author(s):  
Chi-Hung Lo
Keyword(s):  
Influencing Factors ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Assistive Devices ◽  
Assistive Device ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Term Care ◽  
High Dependency ◽  
Semantic Difference ◽  
Willingness To Use ◽  
Elderly Mobility

Given the low birth rate and the rapid aging of the population in Taiwan, the issues such as long-term care, high dependency ratio, and labor shortage are no longer avertible. The mobility assists shall play a significant role in helping the elder community to live independently with dignity, and the appearance of the mobility assists should make them feel comfortable as well. Hence this study recommends the development of assistive devices, barrier-free environments, and other solutions that allows the elderly to remain independent. This study explores the influencing factors of the willingness to use exoskeleton mobility assists on the psychological aspects. The purpose of this study is to explore the key factors of the willingness to use Wearable Robotic Exoskeleton. By sorting the style of the assistive devices based on various appreciation levels, the semantic difference scale was used to investigate the influence on the appearance of the assistive device on the wearing acceptance. Lastly, this study aims to acquire the factors that affect the style of the model and the influencing factors on the wearing acceptance, providing a reference for future assistive device design and developers to increase user’s willingness to accept the product.

Major Metrics, Concerns, and Assessment Strategy for Mobility Assistive Devices

2020 ◽  
pp. 171-203
Author(s):  
Yiannis Koumpouros
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Assistive Devices ◽  
Daily Activities ◽  
Assistive Device ◽  
Mobility Devices ◽  
Mobility Aids ◽  
Environmental Causes ◽  
Elderly Mobility

The ageing of the population is one of the major societal and financial problems. The prevalence of disability increases dramatically by age. The loss of mobility can be devastating to the elderly. Mobility aids are a one-way street to maintain independent mobility. The performance of daily activities is restrained by a series of factors related to the assistive device limitations, or the ones emerged from environmental causes. A literature review reveals minimal tools for assessing mobility assistive devices able to capture users' satisfaction. The chapter presents an assessment methodology in order to investigate assistive mobility devices' limitations, dissatisfaction reasons, and identifies the most appropriate tools to study such limitations and conclude in valid outcomes. One of the valuable characteristics of the study presented in its generalizability since it is not disease oriented. A summary of the results from both the literature review and the real case study on a mixed group of end users are presented in the chapter.

scholarly journals Keep Moving Toward Recovery! Function-Focused Care in Hospitalized Stroke and Geriatric Patients

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 629-629
Author(s):  
Janneke de Man-van Ginkel ◽  
Carolien Verstraten ◽  
Marieke Schuurmans ◽  
Silke Metzelthin ◽  
Johannes Reitsma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Status ◽  
Mixed Model ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Hospitalized Patients ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Level Method ◽  
Level Of Significance ◽  
Elderly Mobility ◽  
Patients Experience

Abstract Many hospitalized patients experience decline in functional status. Function Focused Care (FFC) has demonstrated to improve patients’ functional status in long-term care. In a stepped wedge cluster trial in 893 hospitalized geriatric and stroke patients, we investigated the effectiveness of FFC compared to usual care (FFC: n=427, UC: n=466) on ADL and mobility. We measured the Barthel Index and the Elderly Mobility Scale, and analysed using a mixed-model multi-level method. At discharge, 3 month and 6 months, the mean difference (MD) was in favour of FFC, although at none of the time points the level of significance was reached: the MD for ADL was respectively: 0.79 (95%CI: -0.98-2.56), 0.43 (95%CI: 0.10-1.79), and 0.57 (95%CI: -1.34- 2.48). For mobility, the MD was respectively 0.89 (95%CI: -1.01-2.80), 0.78 (95%CI: -1.18; 2.75), and 1.09 (95%CI: -0.88-3.07). Although the results are inconclusive, FFC shows a tendency to improve ADL and mobility in hospitalized patients. Part of a symposium sponsored by Nursing Care of Older Adults Interest Group.

Integrated Sensing Techniques for Assistive Chairs

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 58-70
Author(s):  
Hang Lu ◽  
Dayou Li ◽  
John Oyekan ◽  
Carsten Maple
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Activities Of Daily Living ◽  
Daily Living ◽  
Independent Living ◽  
Premature Death ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Assistive Devices ◽  
Sit To Stand ◽  
Standing Up ◽  
Elderly Mobility

This paper presents a survey of the contemporary assistive chairs and on-chair sensing approaches of capturing sit-to-stand (STS) movement. Sitting in a chair and standing up from a seated position are activities of daily living (ADLs) performed by humans. However, older people often encounter difficulties with these activities. These difficulties may cause substantial decreasing of the elderly mobility, leading to inactive participation in social activities and increasing the risk of chronic diseases that may cause premature death. Therefore, assisting older people to overcome these difficulties has significance for their independent living. At present, the assistive devices can be allocated in terms of market available ones and experimental prototypes, both of which are discussed here. Afterwards, the authors cast more light on integrated sensing techniques that are currently used with experimental prototypes and create a taxonomy of sensing techniques. Following from this survey, a chair capable of delivering assistance-as-needed is proposed.

scholarly journals From a biological template model to gait assistance with an exosuit

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vahid Firouzi ◽  
Ayoob Davoodi ◽  
Fariba Bahrami ◽  
Maziar A. Sharbafi
Keyword(s):  
Elderly People ◽  
Control Method ◽  
Reaction Force ◽  
Metabolic Cost ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Assistive Devices ◽  
Assistive Device ◽  
Control Approach ◽  
And Control

AbstractBy invention of soft wearable assistive devices, known as exosuits, a new aspect in assisting unimpaired subjects is introduced. In this study, we designed and developed an exosuit with compliant biarticular thigh actuators, called BAExo. Unlike common method of using rigid actuators in exosuits, the BAExo is made of serial elastic actuators (SEA) resembling artificial muscles (AM). This bioinsipred design is complemented by the novel control concept of using the ground reaction force to adjust these AMs’ stiffness in the stance phase. By locking the motors in the swing phase the SEAs will be simplified to passive biarticular springs, which is sufficient for leg swinging. The key concept in our design and control approach is synthesizing human locomotion to develop assistive device, instead of copying the outputs of human motor control. Analysing human walking assistance using an experiment-based OpenSim model demonstrates the advantages of the proposed design and control of BAExo, regarding metabolic cost reduction and efficiency of the system. In addition, pilot experiments with the recently developed BAExo hardware support the applicability of the introduced method.Author summaryAging and mobility of elderly people are of crucial concern in developed countries. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that by the middle of the 21st century, about 80 million Americans will be 65 or older. According to the group’s research, medical costs resulting from falls by the elderly are expected to approach $32.4 billion by 2020. Therefore, assistance of elderly people and making the assistive devices more intelligent is a need in near future. However, this is not the only application of assistive devices. Exosuits, as soft wearable robots, introduced a new aspect in assisting a large range of population, even healthy young people. We introduce a novel design and control method for a new exosuit. As the research in the field of wearable assistive devices is growing in recent years and its application in daily life becomes more evident for the society, such studies with a unique view in design and control could have a significant impact. Our proposed biologically inspired approach could be potentially applied to other exosuits.

scholarly journals Health Status of the Elderly and Its Influence on Their Activities of Daily Living in Shangrao, Jiangxi Province

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (10) ◽  
pp. 1771 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rudan Xu ◽  
Xueqing Zhou ◽  
Shiling Cao ◽  
Boshu Huang ◽  
Chiyu Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Disease ◽  
Health Status ◽  
Activities Of Daily Living ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Influencing Factors ◽  
Daily Living ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Elderly Subjects ◽  
Term Care ◽  
New Findings

To investigate the activities of daily living (ADL) and influencing factors, this survey study was conducted in Shangrao of Jiangxi. A total of 1087 elderly subjects in a long-term care (LTC) program participated in this study and their physical function, cognitive ability, self-rated health, and chronic disease were recorded during March 2017 and April 2018. The ADL scale was used to evaluate the health status of the elderly. F-test and multiple linear regression showed that the average ADL of the participants was 15.12 ± 17.59. The incidence of visual and verbal impairment was 68.6% and 14.1%, respectively. Over 74% of the elderly had severe cognitive impairment; and the prevalence of chronic disease was 84.5%. Multivariate analysis revealed that age, education, BMI (Body Mass Index), low income, verbal and cognitive ability, visual status, health self-evaluation, and some chronic diseases were related to self-care ability (p < 0.05). In summary, this study revealed that the ADL score is lower in this region and identified several influencing factors. These new findings will be useful for the local government to enhance the current LTC program for the elderly population.

Pharmacology Issues Related to Dementia Syndrome of Depression in Elderly Residents of Long-Term Care Settings

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-69
Author(s):  
Angel L. Ball ◽  
Adina S. Gray
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Environmental Communication ◽  
Pharmacological Intervention ◽  
Team Approach ◽  
Discussion Paper ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Anticholinergic Medications ◽  
Inappropriate Treatment ◽  
Dementia Syndrome

Pharmacological intervention for depressive symptoms in institutionalized elderly is higher than the population average. Among the patients on such medications are those with a puzzling mix of symptoms, diagnosed as “dementia syndrome of depression,” formerly termed “pseudodementia”. Cognitive-communicative changes, potentially due to medications, complicate the diagnosis even further. This discussion paper reviews the history of the terminology of “pseudodementia,” and examines the pharmacology given as treatment for depressive symptoms in the elderly population that can affect cognition and communication. Clinicians can reduce the risk of misdiagnosis or inappropriate treatment by having an awareness of potential side effects, including decreased attention, memory, and reasoning capacities, particularly due to some anticholinergic medications. A team approach to care should include a cohesive effort directed at caution against over-medication, informed management of polypharmacology, enhancement of environmental/communication supports and quality of life, and recognizing the typical nature of some depressive signs in elderly institutionalized individuals.

The Unusual Cruelty of Nursing Homes Behind Bars

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 264-271
Author(s):  
Rachel E. López
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Homes ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Prison Population ◽  
Financial Burden ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
The United States ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Trained Staff ◽  
State Prisons ◽  
The Cost

The elderly prison population continues to rise along with higher rates of dementia behind bars. To maintain the detention of this elderly population, federal and state prisons are creating long-term care units, which in turn carry a heavy financial burden. Prisons are thus gearing up to become nursing homes, but without the proper trained staff and adequate financial support. The costs both to taxpayers and to human dignity are only now becoming clear. This article squarely addresses the second dimension of this carceral practice, that is the cost to human dignity. Namely, it sets out why indefinitely incarcerating someone with dementia or other neurocognitive disorders violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. This conclusion derives from the confluence of two lines of U.S. Supreme Court precedent. First, in Madison v. Alabama, the Court recently held that executing someone (in Madison’s case someone with dementia) who cannot rationally understand their sentence amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. Second, in line with Miller v. Alabama, which puts life without parole (LWOP) sentences in the same class as death sentences due to their irrevocability, this holding should be extended to LWOP sentences. Put another way, this article explains why being condemned to life is equivalent to death for someone whose neurodegenerative disease is so severe that they cannot rationally understand their punishment.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document