Topo: Aging population and AmI

Ageing population, care services and needs for ambient technology Päivi Topo Email: paivi.topo@thl.fi

Population is ageing globally 19/05/2009 Ageing population, care services and needs for ambient technology / Päivi Topo Source: World Population Ageing: 1950-2050. UN.

19/05/2009 Ageing population, care services and needs for ambient technology / Päivi Topo Source: World Population Ageing: 1950-2050. UN.

Significant differences among people in old age
Go Go
People no or minor chronic health problems
Slow Go
People with problems in health and/or functioning that cause some challenges for daily life
No Go
People with severe problems in health and functioning, dependence on others in daily life

Go Go and ambient technology
Prevention is the main issue:
Nutrition & diet & weight control
Blood pressure
Sports & daily physical activity
Sleep
Social activities
Cognitive activities
Support in their social activities and care responsibilities
Changes already in fucntioning because of normal ageing need to be taken into account in user requirements

Slow Go and ambient technology
self-care of acute & chronic disease (medication, blood pressure, blood sugar etc.)
"self-rehabilitation" (physical, cognitive, psychological exercises & feed back)
social engangement
Many "slow go people" also care for their frail spouses or other relatives
Time to learn to use technology; motivation to do it depends on how necessary it is

No Go and ambient technology
self-care of acute & severe chronic disease (medication, blood pressure, blood sugar etc.)
"self-rehabilitation" (physical, cognitive, psychological exercices & feed back)
social engangement
due dependence on help from the others communication & information delivery very important: easier to organise within family, more complex if health & social care services needed
cognitive problems common: difficulties in learning > easy to use is basic requirement

People with dementia as an example of Slow Go & No Go
30 million people with dementia worldwide: by 2050, over 100 million.
Much of the increase will be in developing countries.
More than 60% of people with dementia live in developing countries, by 2040 71%.
The fastest growth in the elderly population is taking place in China, India, and south Asian and western Pacific.
In western countries people with dementia use the vast majority of services for the ageing population: their care is far more expensive than cancer treatment
19/05/2009 Ageing population, care services and needs for ambient technology / Päivi Topo Source: Alzheimer´s Disease International

Prevalence of dementing illnesses in Finland by age 19/05/2009 Ageing population, care services and needs for ambient technology / Päivi Topo Age group Prevalence (%) 65-69 2,3 70-74 4,2 75-79 8,6 80-84 13,0 85-89 25,3 90+ 33,5

Can technology help?
Dementia caused by Alzheimers disease and other similar disease weakens cognitive abilities widely
Gradually the person has problems in short term memory, in orientation, perception, counting etc.
Causes severe difficulties in daily life & need for 24 hour care
Technology has been successfully used to help family carers, social & health care personell
Topo P. Technology studies to meet the needs of people with dementia and their caregivers: a literature review. Journal of Applied Gerontology 2009.

Can technology help?
Little is known about potential to directly support the person with dementia to be more indepent or to have better quality of life
Existing studies show promising results
Good solutions needed for help in maintaining abilities & cognition, to help in orientation, to improve safety at home and in compensating skills that have been lost or are in danger to be lost
This kind of approach can help in decreasing needs of care & cutting costs of care BUT it requires that personal help is available when needed
Topo P. Technology studies to meet the needs of people with dementia and their caregivers: a literature review. Journal of Applied Gerontology 2009.
Topo P. & Östlund B. (eds): Dementia, design and technology - Time to get involved. IOS Press, 2009 (available at: www.thl.fi/bookshop)

Unnecessary disability in ageing societies
Barrier free design & accessibility are essential
Technology now used to compensate problems caused by non-accessibile design of built environments
Service needs & needs for assistance are often caused by non-accessible environment:
UNNECESSARY DISABILITY
Ambient technology has huge potential in improving actual environments of old people towards optimal environment

Thank you!

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Topo: Aging population and AmI

by Iiro Jantunen on May 20, 2009

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