Baby Boomers & Aging in Place

Written by Kevin Ray

ust about one third of Baby Boomers are 55 or will turn 55 this year. That’s one third of 76 million people born between 1946 and 1964... some 25 million men and women. And here’s another thought. The youngest of them, the baby Baby Boomers, are pushing 45. Baby Boomers are living longer lives, thanks to the advances in modern medicine. Meanwhile, Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare are quickly becoming endangered species.

So, what does the future have in store for the Baby Boomers who are very near the point in their lives where they will no longer be contributing to these systems, but looking to them for assistance? The answer involves home-based, technology-enabled networks between the older adult, family members, caregivers, doctors, nurses, providers, and other families in the same position. The ultimate outcome will be the enhanced flow and integration of vital information among all key members of an individual’s personal and professional support system, to ensure improved quality of care/services and quality of life while still living at home.

So, what would this look like and how would it work? The possibilities are endless, but consider the following Proactive Health Research Technologies being developed by the Intel Research Council and researchers at the Oregon Health and Science University, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Washington, and the University of Michigan.

Sensor Network.

A sensor network in the home that senses the location of people and objects in the home. The network uses a combination of motion sensors, cameras, contact switches, magnetic switches, and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. RFID uses electronic tags to store identification data, and a wireless transmitter gun to capture it.

Home Network

A home network allows a household to interact not only through multiple, distributed touch points, including traditional PCs, PDAs, and tablets, but also through TVs, clock radios, and telephones. This is particularly important for Alzheimer’s patients who often forget how to use the newest technologies like PCs. These people must rely upon more familiar interfaces of older technologies such as phones or TVs to get reminders and prompts from the system. Most important, the system can deliver a reminder to a person on any familiar, proximate device.

Activity Tracking

An activity tracking system using dynamic Bayesian networks and other artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is used to translate all of the raw sensor network data into meaningful trending information about what activities people are doing in the home. The new technologies may well be able to detect the onset of Alzheimer’s years before it is traditionally diagnosed. They will do this through an analysis of simple daily tasks like teeth brushing or meal preparation.

Ambient Display

Ambient display technologies would allow distant family members to check in on their aging parents. For example, smart photo frames can show a person, at a glance, that “all systems are normal at Mom’s house,” and presence lamps turn on to let a person know that a loved one has gotten home safely.

The Center for Aging Services Technologies, or CAST, demonstrated a few products on March 16th in Washington for members of Congress and federal officials. CAST is organized by technology companies and university research centers, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Capitol Hill demo of “future technology in action” included:

1. A system that helps early Alzheimer’s patients remember the names and faces of their key friends and family.
2. A home technology that tracks everyday activities of frail elders.
3. A “personalized health coach” that elders with heart problems can use on their TV.
4. A home safety monitor that detects falls, medication usage, and sleeplessness.
5. An “intelligent” bed that monitors sleep patterns and weight to detect disease.
6. A robot to help frail seniors walk more frequently and remember to take their medications.
7. A sensor that “listens” to footsteps and walking patterns for signs that someone may be developing Parkinson’s Disease.
8. A telemedicine device that monitors the health of patients at home and interacts with their doctor.

“Chester the Pill” is an interactive “medication coach” combined with a computer, “Health Wizard” that asks people questions and then checks databases. Chester figured out from an elder’s questions that she had a headache and then checked physician instructions, and pharmacy and Web information about medications, including contraindications. Chester advised the elder what she could and could not take. (Chester was shown by the University of Rochester.)

When individuals are allowed to age in place with their social support networks intact, costs are minimized and care is delivered in response not to a rigid service-delivery model, but to actual need. Communities could conserve needed resources by reducing the amount of unnecessary services to Baby Boomers who could, and would, prefer to be more independent.

This article provided by Kevin Ray of Custom Audio Video, LLC. Member CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association)