Ethical issues in the use of surveillance cameras to support ageing in place

Background and Objective: Surveillance technology allows family members to monitor older adults’ daily activities and their interaction with the home environment. In particular, video surveillance cameras and surveillance technology’s implementation raises critical ethical concerns due to their invasive and obtrusive nature. Thus, this paper aims to address the ethical issues regarding the use of video surveillance for older adults to age in place. Methods: A literature review is conducted using Springerlink, Sciencedirect, and PubMed Publications related to older adults’ care, ageing in place, and the use of surveillance technologies were included in this project. Results: A total of 19 publications met the inclusion criteria. Nine ethical issues emerged from the data: informed consent, privacy, conflict of interest, stigmatization and obtrusiveness, homogeneity among older adults, and imbalance relationship. These nine themes were further explored in respect to ethical principles, including autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice and fidelity) Conclusion: Although surveillance cameras can be invasive, well-grounded ethical thinking and proactive response help reduce the risk and ethical challenges associated with it. By examining the ethical issue in video surveillance, it helps to reflect and enhance the current legislation

Issues in the Development of Conversation Dialog for Humanoid Nursing Partner Robots in Long-Term Care

The purpose of this chapter is to explore the issues of development of conversational dialog of robots for nursing, especially for long-term care, and to forecast humanoid nursing partner robots (HNRs) introduced into clinical practice. In order to satisfy the required performance of HNRs, it is important that anthropomorphic robots act with high-quality conversational dialogic functions. As for its hardware, by allowing independent range of action and degree of freedom, the burden of quality exerted in human-robot communication is reduced, thereby unburdening nurses and professional caregivers. Furthermore, it is critical to develop a friendlier type of robot by equipping it with non-verbal emotive expressions that older people can perceive. If these functions are conjoined, anthropomorphic intelligent robots will serve as possible instructors, particularly for rehabilitation and recreation activities of older people. In this way, more than ever before, the HNRs will play an active role in healthcare and in the welfare fields

The impact of social media marketing on working adults’ purchase intention via e-commerce after Covid-19 pandemic

Technological advancement has been vulnerable in complimenting how consumer conduct their buying behavior. Social media, has fast been becoming a popular platform for dealers to reach customers when promoting and introducing products o gain more business opportunities and profits. Social Media continues to evolve in facilitating business and service growth by incorporating improved features to ease online interactions. This research aims to determine the impact of social media marketing on the factors influencing online purchasing intention via e-commerce among working adults in Malaysia after the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic has made online purchasing an excellent choice for conducting business transactions, mainly for safety and fear of getting into close contact with persons infected by the deadly virus. Hence, it is necessary to explore the insights on consumer buying intention from the perspective of scientific research in the business discipline that has become the objective of this study. The findings have successfully proven that the independent variables, i.e., the perceived Customer Trust (CT), perceived Product Usefulness (PU), perceived Service Quality (SQ), and perceived Social Media Marketing (SMM), do have significantly influenced the consumers purchasing intention after Covid-19 pandemic. The impact of social media marketing on working adults’ purchase intention via e-commerce after Covid-19 has resulted in a positive future outlook, especially towards business entities. The influence of social media marketing itself towards working adults can help those involved in advertisement and content-creating industries to continuously conduct research with the possibility of taking up their creative skills to a higher level. (Abstract by author

Dissertation: Examining and investigating home modifications and smart home technologies to reduce fall injury among older adults.

Nearly one in six U.S. residents are over the age of 65. The proportion of older adults in the U.S. is anticipated to grow to 22.1% of the total population by 2050. The cost of treating age related conditions and injuries is expensive, government programs including Medicaid paid over $550 Billion in 2017, and makes up between 14-16% of the federal budget each year. With the high cost of treating age related conditions and injuries, and the proportion of older adults continuing to increase every year, it is imperative that researchers and government entities find and invest in preventative measures in order to reduce injury and related healthcare costs. Among the many age-related injuries older adults suffer, falls are arguably the most important to address. It is estimated that one in three older adults has a fall every year. In 2016, falls were the seventh leading cause of death among older adults. Approximately one third of all fallers require medical attention after experiencing a fall. Over 800,000 older adults are hospitalized each year due to fall related injuries. Injuries sustained as a result of a serious fall include various fractures, traumatic brain injuries, and other cuts and bruises.Home modifications, and more recently smart home technologies, can help increase the safety of older adults living in the community. With older adults wanting to “age in place”, installing these modifications and technologies before an accident happens may lower rates of injury. Today, dozens of companies sell various smart home devices for the consumer market. Bud despite the high demand for these technologies by the American consumer, the ability of these devices to keep older adults safe, and how older adults value these technologies, remains uncertain. These home technologies may be particularly beneficial to older adults living in rural areas due to the increased isolation and limited access to healthcare resources. Previous research indicates rural populations have a greater proportion of older adults compared to urban areas, yet lack the infrastructure to provide specialty care to this population. It is estimated that more than 60 million family members provide some sort of informal care to an older adult relative. Of all of these family members, nearly 40% report spending 20 or more hours a week providing this unpaid care. Previous research has failed to examine how these family members feel about home modifications and technologies for their older adult relative. Finding ways to ease the burden of caring for older family members will significantly better the situations of many family relatives.This dissertation aims to cover three areas. 1. Identify people at risk of suffering subsequent fall injuries. Find the average time between an initial fall injury and a subsequent fall injury, and find average time between an initial fall injury and death.2. Examine the preferences of older adults living in a rural area towards various smart home technologies and home modifications.3. Examine the preferences of family members of older adults regarding smart home technologies and home modifications

SHELDON Smart habitat for the elderly.

An insightful document concerning active and assisted living under different perspectives: Furniture and habitat, ICT solutions and Healthcare

Elder Abuse: More Is Expected Unless Society and Newspapers Intervene

Elder abuse is a social illness of epidemic proportions in the United States and older Americans constitute one of the largest age groups in the nation. Ironically, there exists no comprehensive scientific study on the national incidence or prevalence of elder abuse in both institutional and domestic settings. However, state-based studies conducted over more than two decades show rampant elder abuse is a fact. Many factors contribute to the lack of research on a national scale including victims\u27 underreporting of abuse for fear of retaliation. Lack of strong federal oversight of inconsistent, state-based laws and investigative procedures as well as widely varying definitions of what constitutes abuse or neglect are other key factor s. In addition, researchers report a youth-oriented American culture dangerously discriminates against the old and this attitude contributes to the dehumanizing of older people. Academic and professional journals discuss elder abuse from many angles, and elder advocates publish information about the abuse of elders and urge communities to prevent abuse, but few if any point to mass media\u27s role, particularly newspapers, in increasing public awareness of the problem. The purpose of this study is to attempt to explain the complex and pervasive phenomenon of elder abuse, to show newspapers in particular do little to expose it and thus contribute to it, and to suggest what society and newspapers should do to prevent elder abuse. Further, this study contributes to the body of research aimed at informing the public about elder abuse by explaining conditions in society that mitigate violence against old people, inspiring other researchers to accelerate investigations of it, and strongly suggesting newspapers expose and explain the daily reality and horror of elder abuse

Building a national technology and innovation infrastructure for an aging society

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2006.Includes bibliographical references (p. 181-192).This thesis focuses on the potential of strategic technology innovation and implementation in sustaining an aging society, and examines the need for a comprehensive national technology and innovation infrastructure in the U.S., capable of supporting the development and use of technologies by the aging population and their caregivers. The pervasiveness of population aging makes it a primary concern for nations around the world today. As the inadequacies of existing resources become apparent, policy makers .are now turning to technology and innovation to cope with the changing demographics. 'Technological innovations to accommodate the elderly have existed since centuries ago, and they been useful in extending the human capability beyond perceived limitations of aging. However, new technologies developed with the same objectives are not widely adopted and accepted by the aging population today. The thesis is divided into two complementary sections.(cont.) The first examines three hypotheses for the slow penetration rates of new technologies for aging: 1) Useful, affordable and usable technologies are unavailable, 2) Professional carers that can play a catalytic role between technological innovation and implementation are not technologically educated and prepared to incorporate the technologies into elderly care, and 3) The dynamics of policy formation and agenda setting are not conducive to the design and implementation of "technology for aging" policies. The second section consists of two comparative studies to highlight the gaps within the existing "technologies for aging" industry infrastructure. A study of the domestic automobile and mobile telecommunications industry provides a national perspective, whereas a study of eleven industrialized nations engaged in technological innovations for the elderly provides an international perspective. The research shows that useful, affordable and usable technologies are available, but their diffusion is hindered by inadequate human capital development and an unconducive policy formation and agenda setting climate.(cont.) The comparative studies further illuminate existing infrastructure gaps and also provide useful frameworks to facilitate the bridging of these gaps. By facilitating the development of a robust "technology for aging" infrastructure, policy makers can help to ensure that the U.S. is ready to meet the challenges of an aging population.by Jasmin Lau.S.M

The use of tablets to encourage the development of joint attention skills in children with autism spectrum disorder

The aim of this research was to explore ways in which iPads and other mobile tablets can be used in the classroom and home environment to support children with autism spectrum disorder in the area of joint attention skills. It focused on understanding the nature and importance of these skills in children with autism according to the participants’ experiences and on investigating the use and potential of mobile tablets in contributing to the development of joint attention skills. The research drew upon the transactional model of child development and followed an action research design. Reflection on the initial findings generated plans for change, which then shaped the next stages of the research. Interviews, observations, focus groups studies were carried out to investigate the level of understanding of joint attention skills and how their development is currently supported in the classroom and home environment; and to observe such support in the classroom especially when mediated through iPads. These studies, together with focus groups with key stakeholders led to the development of guidelines on how teachers and parents can use mobile tablets to support the development of joint attention skills in home and primary schools (Reception-Key Stage 2). These were developed and refined in consultation with teachers, parents, children and academics. This was the first study that measured the number of times children initiated and responded to joint attention and the number of times teachers used strategies to gain, sustain and redirect a child’s attention with and without the use of technology in a school setting.The findings showed that children were more times engaged in joint attention when using the iPads than without. The participants were not familiar with the term joint attention but used the term social communication to refer to the child’s ability to share interest, keep eye contact, take turns in an interaction or game, follow gaze and pointing, understand other’s feelings and interact with others by using symbols, speech or gestures. Both parents and teachers used evidence based strategies when interacting with the children but the need for guidance on how to use the mobile tablets was highlighted. The proposed guidelines include evidence based strategies, tablet based activities, and criteria on how to select mobile applications. They aim to help teachers reflect on and improve their teaching practice, as well as urge parents to use the tablet with their child in more collaborative ways. It is suggested that future studies should focus on bridging the gap between theory and practice by investigating the practitioners’ perspectives and experiences in developing joint attention and social communication skills in children with autism with the use of mobile interactive technologies in naturalistic settings

Teaching child development principles to parents: A cognitive-developmental approach

Dissertation (Ed.D.)--Boston University, 1983The purpose of this study was to determine if a 12-week course would result in increased parental awareness and improved perceptions of parental behavior. The format included child development information and group problem solving of parent-child conflict dilemmas. A pre/post control group design was used with equivalent voluntary groups. The statistical techniques employed to analyze the data were the analysis of covariance and the t-test for correlated samples. The treatment group consisted of 11 parents and their 16 children while the control group comprised 11 parents and their 14 children. The Newberger (1977) Parental Awareness Scale (PAS) was administered to both sets of parents subsequent to the program and to the treatment group parents four months later. A modified version of the Schaefer (1965) Children's Reports of Parental Behavior Inventory (CRPBI) was administered to the parents and children of both groups. Analysis of the results of the PAS indicated that parents in the treatment group significantly increased their levels of parental awareness upon termination of the program (p<.03) and made further significant gains following a four month hiatus (p<.05). The results of the modified CRPBI indicated that parents perceived themselves as improving in their behavior to a significant level (p<.05) upon completion of the program but did not make likewise gains when retested four months later. The children of the parents of both groups failed to perceive improved behavior on the part of their parents. These results tentatively indicate that cognitive-structural growth can occur over time when the original stimulus conditions which facilitated it have been removed. It also appears that cognitive-developmentally oriented parent intervention is conducive to such growth. [TRUNCATED

Adolescent Experience with Trauma and Orthopedic External Fixation: A Dissertation

Over 13 million adolescents sustain traumatic injuries yearly, resulting in functional disability, disfigurement, psychosocial problems and fractures. These fractures are increasingly being treated with orthopedic external fixation devices (EFDs). The purpose of this study was to describe the experience of traumatically injured adolescents treated with EFDs. The 4 aims of the study focused on the circumstances leading to the traumatic event, experiences following the traumatic event, the impact of EFD treatment, and adolescents’ role in pin-care self-management, which is crucial to preventing infection. This longitudinal, qualitative descriptive study used purposive sampling to recruit 5 male and 4 female adolescents, 13-20 years old, from a New England level-1 trauma center. Participants were injured in motor vehicle crashes (including an all-terrain vehicle), falls, by gunshot, trampoline and football trauma. Interview questions were framed by two themes from a study of adult recovery from physical injury, i.e., the event and fallout. Participants were interviewed within days of the injury, 2 weeks after returning home, and within one month of EFD removal. Data were coded from verbatim transcripts using NVIVO and organized into themes guided by the principles of qualitative analysis. An overarching theme of “old self no more; forever changed” emerged from 26 interviews. The participants’ experience affected all tasks of adolescence: independence from parents, accepting body image, peer relations, and forming an identity. Major themes included “what risk?”, regarding circumstances leading to the traumatic event, mastering the environment, was 2 part first, processing the event, where determining fault and realizing everything has changed, they were ambivalently lucky, and not invincible. Secondly “suck it up and deal with it”, where strategies to deal with traumatic injury emerged (i.e. medication, channeling outlets, and slow caution). EFD experience revealed “Space age robot” and “they’ll do it themselves” as emergent themes. EFDs were described as painless, robotic, no big deal and necessary. One draining pin-site was noted. Findings related to use of self-administered analgesics, information technology, recall of detail, and gender differences in coping may lead to future interventions. These findings lay the groundwork for future studies that may improve care of adolescents during acute recovery from traumatic injury