Future bathroom: A study of user-centred design principles affecting usability, safety and satisfaction in bathrooms for people living with disabilities

Research and development work relating to assistive technology 2010-11 (Department of Health) Presented to Parliament pursuant to Section 22 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 197

Seeing the wood for the trees. Carer related research and knowledge: A scoping review

This NIHR-SSCR funded scoping review provides a comprehensive mapping of what is known about carers and caring, and aims to help inform policy, practice and research in relation to carers. The review was undertaken by searching 10 electronic bibliographic databases, supplemented by additional web searches to identify academic research, grey literature and wider knowledge. The analysis adopts a selective thematic approach covering: carer variables - the characteristics of different types of carer and different caring situations; types of care - the nature of needs of the cared for person and the features of the care situation; the impact of caring – resilience and coping, employment and health; and carer support and needs assessment. The final section highlights key messages identified from the review. It found that caring involves all sections and age groups of the population, with people are likely to experience one or more periods of caregiving over their lifetime. The uniqueness of each caring relationship is also highlighted. In relation to types of carers, knowledge about ‘hard to reach’ groups, such as BAME and LGBT carers, remains sparse. Older carers are also relatively invisible in policy and research terms. It found that much of the knowledge about carers identified in the review relates to their characteristics, their lived experience and the nature of their caregiving, with relatively less being known about the effectiveness of interventions to support them. The report concludes by offering suggestions for policy and practice. An appendix provides a bibliography of the 3,434 items identified in review, classified into 17 types of reference

Linking recorded data with emotive and adaptive computing in an eHealth environment

Telecare, and particularly lifestyle monitoring, currently relies on the ability to detect and respond to changes in individual behaviour using data derived from sensors around the home. This means that a significant aspect of behaviour, that of an individuals emotional state, is not accounted for in reaching a conclusion as to the form of response required. The linked concepts of emotive and adaptive computing offer an opportunity to include information about emotional state and the paper considers how current developments in this area have the potential to be integrated within telecare and other areas of eHealth. In doing so, it looks at the development of and current state of the art of both emotive and adaptive computing, including its conceptual background, and places them into an overall eHealth context for application and development

The case for investment in technology to manage the global costs of dementia

Worldwide growth in the number of people living with dementia will continue over the coming decades and is already putting pressure on health and care systems, both formal and informal, and on costs, both public and private. One response could be to make greater use of digital and other technologies to try to improve outcomes and contain costs. We were commissioned to examine the economic case for accelerated investment in technology that could, over time, deliver savings on the overall cost of care for people with dementia. Our short study included a rapid review of international evidence on effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of technology, consideration of the conditions for its successful adoption, and liaison with people from industry, government, academic, third sector and other sectors, and people with dementia and carers. We used modelling analyses to examine the economic case, using the UK as context. We then discussed the roles that state investment or action could play, perhaps to accelerate use of technology so as to deliver both wellbeing and economic benefits

Wellbeing in dementia

The portfolio thesis is divided into three parts:Part one is a systematic literature review exploring the relationship between self and staff-proxy assessments of quality of life in dementia. The review aimed to provide an exploration into the relationship between ratings made between self and staff-proxy rating as well as the factors that may explain or predict any differences between ratings. A systematic search of four databases identified 12 relevant studies. The findings of the studies are analysed using narrative synthesis and forest plots. Results are discussed in relation to clinical practices and research.Part two is an empirical paper that explores the subjective understandings and lived experiences of Old Age Psychiatrists in relation to positive wellbeing in dementia. Qualitative data was collected using semi-structured interviews and analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Eleven psychiatrists from three NHS Trusts participated in the research. Three super-ordinate themes and nine sub-ordinate themes emerged from the data. These themes are discussed in relation to the wider literature base.Part three comprises the appendices supporting the systematic literature review and empirical paper. It also includes a reflective statement of the primary researcher’s experiences of the research process

A Review of Age Friendly Virtual Assistive Technologies and their Effect on Daily Living for Carers and Dependent Adults

Many barriers exist in the lives of older adult’s, including health, transport, housing, isolation, disability and access to technology. The appropriate integration of technology within age-friendly communities continues to offer possible solutions to these barriers and challenges. Older adults and disabled people continue to be affected and marginalized due to lack of access to the digital world. Working collaboratively with planners, policy makers and developers, social and living spaces in the future will ensure that residents are equipped to live in an era that continues to be led by, and is dependent upon, access to technology. This review paper uniquely draws together the small volume of literature from the fields of gerontology, gerontechnology, human computer interaction (HCI), and disability. This paper examines the national and international age-friendly frameworks regarding older adults who are carers of dependent people with disabilities

Spotlight on : Council-managed personal budgets

As a major provider of services to older people, Age UK is interested in what research tells us is known to work. In this book we've asked experts to write jargon-free summaries of the latest evidence they have of the most effective practice. We hope it will inform and further the debate about how services can enhance the lives of older people today. In his foreword Lord Filkin says, 'The key question is how to make these years as healthy, happy and meaningful as possible and improve the quality of later life whenever we can. This sounds a heroic, even utopian, ambition but this excellent Age UK publication makes crucial points about how to realise this vision. It tells us that service designers and providers should listen to what older people say they want and value, and co-design services with them, rather than doing things to them. We should also need to recognise the huge diversity among older people, and make the best use of the evidence of what works best.' 'Services for Older People - What Works' is a valuable and accessible guide to current best practice in the care and support of older people. It makes essential reading for service providers, commissioners, and others who fund or deliver services for older people

Supporting older people and carers

As a major provider of services to older people, Age UK is interested in what research tells us is known to work. In this book we've asked experts to write jargon-free summaries of the latest evidence they have of the most effective practice. We hope it will inform and further the debate about how services can enhance the lives of older people today. In his foreword Lord Filkin says, 'The key question is how to make these years as healthy, happy and meaningful as possible and improve the quality of later life whenever we can. This sounds a heroic, even utopian, ambition but this excellent Age UK publication makes crucial points about how to realise this vision. It tells us that service designers and providers should listen to what older people say they want and value, and co-design services with them, rather than doing things to them. We should also need to recognise the huge diversity among older people, and make the best use of the evidence of what works best.' 'Services for Older People - What Works' is a valuable and accessible guide to current best practice in the care and support of older people. It makes essential reading for service providers, commissioners, and others who fund or deliver services for older people