by Sharon Ann Holgate
E&T
5 October 2009 online and in the vol 4 issue 17 print edition
Technologists have come up with a kitchen that keeps an eye on Alzheimer’s sufferers, and bracelets that monitor blood pressure. But will people wear them or reject them? E &T asks the question.
No one likes to think too deeply about ageing, or about the disabilities we might have in the future. But whether we like it or not, by the time most of us reach old age we will be having difficulties carrying out tasks we used to take for granted, and technology might provide the only solution to some of the care we need.
“As a society we are getting older. Over the next 30 years the number of people over the age of 65 is going to increase dramatically compared with the number between 18 and 65,” says Helen Petrie, professor of human-computer interaction at the University of York. Originally a psychologist, Petrie now evaluates technology for people with disabilities and the elderly.
“It’s not that it would be nice or interesting research-wise to use technology to help support people; we are going to have to, because there just won’t be enough younger people around to care for the elderly,” she says.
Although we are all likely to need some help in old age, anyone suffering with dementia will need more specialist assistance. There are currently 700,000 people in the UK living with the condition, with one in 20 people above 65, one in five of the over 80s, and one in three of the 90-plus age group affected.
A variety of electronic devices have already been developed to help. These include sensors that can detect whether a chair or bed is occupied, valves that automatically cut off the gas supply in the event of a leak, and a system that switches the bathroom light on when a person gets out of bed at night. All aim to make the home a safer environment for vulnerable people. “But take-up has been less than we initially thought it would be,” says Professor Dawn Brooker, director of the University of Worcester Association for Dementia Studies.