 "Photo: Photo courtesy of Zaira Estrada")
In the near future the elderly will be able to stay independent a little longer in their own homes thanks to research being done for a robot by three University of Illinois at Chicago engineers and a Rush University nursing specialist. "The elderly population is getting larger," says Miloš Žefran, UIC Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and lead researcher for the project.
According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 12.8 percent of the population in the United States is 65 years old and over. In July 2009, the population of the United States was estimated at 300 million. This means that there are currently 40 million people in the age bracket of 65 and over. When considering the large amount of people within this age range, one must also look at the quality of life these people may have. Are their housing, medical and social needs being met?
An article on medicalnewstoday.com reported that, in 2006, 7.4 percent of elderly ages 75 and over lived in nursing homes. While in 2000, 8.1 percent were living in the institutionalized setting. With life expectancy getting higher, the population of elderly people will only grow.The research being currently done has the goal to create robots that lend a very human-like helping hand to healthy elderly people with limited mobility thanks to three University of Illinois at Chicago engineers and a Rush University nursing specialist.
"We want to help elderly people communicate with robots, to tell them what they need, and to perform physical activities," said Žefran. Working alongside him are Jezekiel Ben-Arie, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Barbara Di Eugenio, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Marquis Foreman, Professor and Associate Dean for Nursing Science Studies.
Funding for this project came from the National Science Foundation in the form of a $989,000 grant for three years. "The primary focus is to keep the elderly, living in their own home," says Zefran. This robot would mainly be for the elderly who are well enough to live by themselves, but that might need help with chores around the house, such as cooking, and with reminders to take medicine. In other words, the robot would serve as a sort of caregiver. At the same time, it would keep the elderly in their own home, living independently, without the need of a human caregiver. The technology will also be made in a way that seniors can easily operate.
At the moment, the research is mainly focused on the interface, or the software, that is to be used with the robot. This research includes observing the interactions between the elderly and caregivers in different kinds of situations, from the language a patient uses to the movements the involved in certain actions. Along with that, they will use Ben-Arie's RISq, short for Recognition by Indexing and Sequencing, methodology. This program would allow the robot to learn to understand altered speech.
The transition from living with the family and going to an institutional setting can be stressful, Žefran elaborates. There are worries of having to leave a family member in the care of strangers, while still wanting to care for them. The relatives might now know how to meet their needs, or might be too busy to really give the care their elders require. With the creation of such robot, and with the growing elderly population, may enable our society to better control and even reduce how many elderly people will have to enter nursing homes or institutionalized care. If a robot was able to provide the same level of assistance as a nursing home at a person's residence, then possibly they will also have a better quality of life.
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