ANGELAH: A Framework for Assisting Elders At Home

The ever growing percentage of elderly people within modern societies poses welfare systems under relevant stress. In fact, partial and progressive loss of motor, sensorial, and/or cognitive skills renders elders unable to live autonomously, eventually leading to their hospitalization. This results in both relevant emotional and economic costs. Ubiquitous computing technologies can offer interesting opportunities for in-house safety and autonomy. However, existing systems partially address in-house safety requirements and typically focus on only elder monitoring and emergency detection. The paper presents ANGELAH, a middleware-level solution integrating both ”elder monitoring and emergency detection” solutions and networking solutions. ANGELAH has two main features: i) it enables efficient integration between a variety of sensors and actuators deployed at home for emergency detection and ii) provides a solid framework for creating and managing rescue teams composed of individuals willing to promptly assist elders in case of emergency situations. A prototype of ANGELAH, designed for a case study for helping elders with vision impairments, is developed and interesting results are obtained from both computer simulations and a real-network testbed

Use of nonintrusive sensor-based information and communication technology for real-world evidence for clinical trials in dementia

Cognitive function is an important end point of treatments in dementia clinical trials. Measuring cognitive function by standardized tests, however, is biased toward highly constrained environments (such as hospitals) in selected samples. Patient-powered real-world evidence using information and communication technology devices, including environmental and wearable sensors, may help to overcome these limitations. This position paper describes current and novel information and communication technology devices and algorithms to monitor behavior and function in people with prodromal and manifest stages of dementia continuously, and discusses clinical, technological, ethical, regulatory, and user-centered requirements for collecting real-world evidence in future randomized controlled trials. Challenges of data safety, quality, and privacy and regulatory requirements need to be addressed by future smart sensor technologies. When these requirements are satisfied, these technologies will provide access to truly user relevant outcomes and broader cohorts of participants than currently sampled in clinical trials

Risk Factors for Fraud in Elderly Americans

Americans over age 65 comprise approximately one eighth of our population, but about one third of scam victims. The risk of fraud in this population is of particular concern because it is increasing and the damage is greater; losses have been reported in billions of dollars, and elders typically cannot return to the work force to recoup their losses, which can amount to their life savings and even their independence. This project details the results of an unobtrusive research project consisting of a content analysis of more current literature to identify and examine risk factors of elder fraud

The Impact of a Sensory Garden Intervention for Individuals with Dementia

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of sensory gardens on agitation and quality of life for people with dementia. The sensory garden consisted of plants that stimulated all the senses. Four people diagnosed with dementia residing in assisted living participated in the multiple treatment single-subject design (A1-B-BC-A2) study. Baseline phase A1 lasted two-weeks, intervention B and BC were four-weeks each, and return to baseline A2 was two-weeks, for a total of 12 weeks. Intervention B was an indoor sensory garden and intervention BC was an approximated outside sensory garden. Data revealed positive trends following the sensory garden interventions on decreasing agitation and improving quality of life. Intervention B worked best for two participants and intervention BC for the remaining two participants. Applications to recreational therapy practice are provided

Information technology for active ageing: A review of theory and practice

Active Ageing aims to foster a physically, mentally and socially active lifestyle as a person ages. It is a complex, multi-faceted problem that involves a variety of different actors, such as policy makers, doctors, care givers, family members, friends and, of course, older adults. This review aims to understand the role of a new actor, which increasingly plays the role of enabler and facilitator, i.e., that of the technology provider. The review specifically focuses on Information Technology (IT), with a particular emphasis on software applications, and on how IT can prevent decline, compensate for lost capabilities, aid care, and enhance existing capabilities. The analysis confirms the crucial role of IT in Active Ageing, shows that Active Ageing requires a multidisciplinary approach, and identifies the need for better integration of hardware, software, the environment and the involved actors

From Cambodia to the United States: The Disassembly, Reconstruction, and Redefinition of Khmer Identity

In this thesis I describe Khmers\u27 negotiations of circumstances surroundingthe disassembly, reconstruction, and redefinition of Khmer identity fromtheir homeland in Cambodia to a traditional Khmer village recreated in theUnited States. Using a framework derived from a constructivist perspective,I have placed processes of negotiation and identity transformation withinthe lived context of Khmers\u27 lives. Thus, a holistic understanding of theinterrelatedness of multiple changes in Khmerness is made possible.Ethnographic data collected between 1997 and 1999, through participantobservationand interviews, inform this study. Findings from this studyreveal three levels of identity transformation as told by members of a smallKhmer village established along the U. S. Gulf of Mexico. However, thesethree levels of transformation are not mutually exclusive nor are theynecessarily sequential. Each transformation of Khmers\u27 identitiesconstitutes permeable aggregates of other past and continuingdisassemblies, reconstructions and redefinitions of Khmerness. Findingsfrom this study demonstrate that Khmer identity shifts and is transformedby past and present experiences and with their changing circumstances,from endangered Cambodian, to refugees, to re-established Khmers inAmerica