New technologies enabling independence
Published: 12 September 2013
Research by Professor Stephen Brewster and Dr Marilyn McGee-Lennon aims to develop technology to help older and disabled people live more independent lives.
It is estimated that by 2050 one in five people will be over 60 years of age, the current healthcare system will have to adapt to cope with the rapid rise in the older population. Governments accept that current care models are unsustainable and healthcare service providers will need to make use of technology to provide home-based care and self-care.
Scotland is a key player in this field and researchers from the University of Glasgow are working in collaboration with partners from industry, academia, the NHS, the Government (UK and Scotland), charities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to research and develop solutions which will enable our growing population to retain their independence for longer.
MultiMemoHome project
Professor Stephen Brewster and Dr Marilyn McGee-Lennon, from the University’s School of Computing Science, recently concluded a pioneering research project, MultiMemoHome. The fundamental aim of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funded project was to develop technology to help older and disabled people live more independent lives. The researchers were focused on developing usable, accessible, and adaptable solutions which would deliver a higher standard of living, reduce stress on carers and family, and allow people to remain in their own homes independently for longer.
The collaboration between researchers at the University of Glasgow and the University of Edinburgh, created a series of ‘multimodal’ technologies which harness sound, vision, smell and touch to create interactive systems which are easily understood and used by people with cognitive or sensory impairments.
The team developed a range of products including vibrating wristbands or pendants which can be set to act as reminders for events users might otherwise forget, bowls which light up when keys or other important but easily-lost items are placed into them, and systems which can respond to speech commands even when the speaker may have some speech impairment.
Dr Marilyn McGee-Lennon, the University of Glasgow’s lead researcher on the project, said: “In recent years many new pieces of hardware and software have come to market which aim to help people live independently. Although they often work very well on their own, they are often not so good at sharing information with each other to provide carers with a full picture of the everyday lives of the people they look after.
“Through the MultiMemoHome project we’ve taken significant steps to developing products which easily interact with each other and are fully customisable, so users can set them up to work in ways which they can easily understand and react to. A fully-wired house could track a person through their day, providing reminders for medication or meals, ensuring they remember their appointments, or preventing them from missing phone calls or calls at their front door.
“While setting up an in-home care infrastructure would require a significant initial investment in the technology from care providers, it could very well provide those in need of care with the support they need to enjoy a better quality of life in their own homes. That will also lessen the financial and staffing burdens an increasingly aged population is putting on care providers in an uncertain economic climate.”
Future collaborations
The University’s association with using technology for assisted living will continue following a successful bid to evaluate the success of a £37M national project called DALLAS (Delivering Assisted Lifestyles Living At Scale). Led by the Technology Strategy Board, the National Institute for Health Research and the Scottish Government, DALLAS will introduce 170,000 people from across the UK to assisted living technology by 2015.
Dr McGee-Lennon added: “We’re pleased to be working with the DALLAS project, which is set to play a major role in determining how older people can be best served by technology to help keep them independent.
“Some of the MultiMemoHome technology we developed could well be chosen for use by participating councils. We’re looking forward to seeing how those systems and others are adopted and helping to evaluate their effectiveness in improving participants’ everyday lives.”
Dr McGee-Lennon led the University’s involvement in the Scottish Funding Council supported project Mobilising Advanced technologies for Care at Home (MATCH). A multi-partner project which aims to develop a research base for advanced technologies in support of social and health care at home, establishing Scotland as a centre of excellence in the field of technologies for home care.
Technology in use
Towards the end of last year, 12 older people from the west of Scotland participated in a trial of a tablet-based system developed by the MultiMemoHome researchers.
Elspeth Harte, from Bothwell, was one of the trial participants and has frequently taken part in focus groups designed to make the MultiMemoHome technology as simple to use as possible.
She said: “I was given a tablet and a digital pen to use for several weeks to keep track of my appointments. The pen let me write notes in my paper diary and they were automatically transferred to my tablet, which would give me reminders to make sure I remembered to keep my appointments. It was easy to use and it was a real, practical benefit to me.
“I think the work Marilyn and the team have done is fantastic. They’ve been great about listening to suggestions from users and making changes to fit their needs.”
Related pages
First published: 12 September 2013
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