Research & Development Projects
The overall aim of the programme's R&D is to explore the role of assistive and telecare technologies (ATT) in improving the quality of life of older people. This translates into discovering the ways in which ATT can enhance the daily activities, social engagement, care, support and treatment of older people.
Among the impediments to the adoption of ATT are technical flaws, poor design, lack of awareness, unfamiliarity, and here and there technophobia. There are also substantial issues around affordability, cost effectiveness, and negative ancillary outcomes. On the last, if an electronic device replaces face-to-face contact, whether with a relative or paid carer, the net benefit to the recipient could be negative.
The Advanced Care Technologies programme has already identified several fundamental issues that will influence the spread of ATT and which it will address:
- The lack of user-friendly access and control devices
- The high frequency of false positives and false negatives in monitoring and alert devices
- The unreliability of early-adopter ATT applications in hospital and residential care settings
- A tendency for formal care providers to adopt ATT devices that reduce face-to-face contacts and hands-on care
- A neglect of some of the most promising applications, which focus more on improving the social engagement and participation in activities of older people htn on care.
The programme is working in collaboration with its partner organisations to design projects in the following areas:
- Speech Translation into device initiation and control
- Extensions of telecare to out-of-home settings (that will encourage outdoor mobility)
- Applications of ATT in residential care and day centre settings
- Applications of ATT that raise the social and community participation of socially-isolated older people living independently in the community.
We will also carry out a representative survey of Activity and Mobility Limitations among those aged 50 or more years in South Yorkshire, with a focus of constrained participation and mobility, and the scope of ATT for the amelioration or circumvention of activity restrictions.
The ACT programme has established an internal competitive process to identity the highest priority R&D projects and the allocation of its resources. As projects are initiated, further details will be posted.