Elder-friendly Home Environment

Eric Tam, PhDJockey Club Rehabilitation Engineering Centre & Clinic

Department of Health Technology and Informatics&

Institute of Active AgingThe Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Age-Friendly World Cities & Environment Oct 8-9, 2010

Ageing in place

• Independency

• Participation

• Care

• Dignity

• self-fulfillment

Community-accessibility

Elder-friendly• Acceptability (Usability, Affordability)

• Trustworthiness (Safety, Security, Reliability, Privacy)

Elderly-friendly Home Environment

• Assisted Home Environment

• Effect of Color and Illumination

• Health Smart Home

Assisted Home Environment

On average, an older person with a disability living at home owns about 14 assistive device

Barrier free Access - Entrance

Elderly Housing

Hong Kong

Toilet Design

Elderly Housing

Hong Kong

Walk-in bathtub/shower

Temperature Sensing/Indicating Devices

• Prevents your bath from overflowing,• Plus changes color when bath temp

exceeds 36oC.

Suitable for bath plug holes44mm - 50mm in diameter

Magiplug® Bath Plug

Temperature Sensing Glow Tap

Automatic stove• Auto flame reduction• Automatic burner switch-off time

Contact type temperature sensor Three temperature for precise control: 160/180/200oC

The Aging Eye• Causes of visual function decline

– Loss of lenses elasticity– Thickening and yellowing of lens– Reduced transparency of the lenses– Change in pupil size– Risk of age related diseases

Arditi, 2005

The Aging eye• Affects acuity• Accommodation/Focusing• Speed of adaptation to change• Perceptual disabilities

– Burring Spatial abilities Color discrimination

Illumination

• Elderly require more light for equivalent vision– Mid-light illumination 5x normal– Indoor passageway 3x normal– General illumination 1.5x– Focus illumination 2x

Liu et al., 2001

Application of Color• Improvement of vision, sight and clarity of

the environment – enhance ability of functional independency

• Memory and Mood enhancement

Color Perception• Color affects: emotion

– Red: excitement and strong emotion– Orange: energetic and lively– Yellow: hope and wisdom– Blue: clean and quiet– Green: natural and refreshing

Light Colors

Dark Colors

Primary colors: red, yellow & blue

Secondary colors:Oragne=red+yellow

Tertiary colors:Blending of a primaryColor with a secondaryColor

Colors are described:•Hue•Saturation•Brightness

Color interventions suitable for elderly

• the use of bright colors

• color coding/color cueing (or applying effective color contrasts)

• selection of color choices based on the individuals and cultural preferences and associations.

Gohar, 2008

Use of Bright Colors• Bright colors attract, pale colors prevent

• Mood enhancingLight Colors

Dark Colors

Color coding• Used to prompt key elements

– Red to signal “stop”

• Consistent use of same color association

Color contrast/color cueing• White against black.. • 3 basic rules:

– Lighten the light and darken the dark– Use light colors against dark colors– Avoid contrasting hues from adjacent parts of the color

wheel

Use of selective colors• Preferred color vs. unfavorable color

• Existing color association– White signals sterility or cleanliness– Red signifies luxury/arousal mood

• Cultural considerations!

Health smart home• Special electronics to enable the remote control

of automated devices specifically designed for remote health care

Medication reminder• e-pill Pager Vibrating Medication Reminder (with 12 alarms)• Watchminder (with 30 alarms) can also use as a memory

and cueing device

www.epill.com www.watchminder.com

Medication dispenser• A week supply of medication with sound

reminder (with remote monitoring function)

www.vital-linkinc.com

Reminder System• Smart photo frame

Physiological Sensors

• Biotextile-based system (smart shirt)

Physiological Sensors

• “medical” mood ring– monitors the temperature,

heart rate and blood oxygen levels

Vital Sign Sensor

– Pulse Rate– Skin Temperature– Motion

Communication

Network

Ear-wearable Vital Sign Sensor

Device

Base Station

Remote Health Advisor

Consulting Agent Hospital

Physiological Sensors

• Fall detectors– User-activated alarms– Automatic wearable fall detectors– Video monitoring-based fall detectors– Floor Vibration-based fall detectors

Philips Lifeline Slimline(tm) Personal Help Button

Physiological Sensors• Fall detectors

– Floor Vibration-based fall detectors.

Monitoring Devices

Smart Toilet

紅外線感應器

光學感應器

紅外線感應器

紅外線感應器

無線接收器

光學感應器

門感應器

24 hours monitoring

Aging-in-place via Advanced Integrated Sensor System using Artificial Intelligence

• Talking Bathroom– Use instructional video to

demonstrate how to wash hands

– Use computer vision to track hand position and location

– Prompt through hand washing– Using soap, turning off taps

and drying hands

Concerns• Health

– Afraid to be to much dependent on a system if its not working at some point

– Feels uncomfortable because of the cameras

• Security– Worried how the information is sent and if it

can be intercepted– Do not want their locks controlled by a

computer, what if it accidently unlocks them

Age-Friendly World Cities & Environment Oct 8-9, 2010