2015 NRI PI meeting presentation

1. Squaring the Life Curve:
How Can Robots Help?
Marjorie Skubic
Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Director, Center for Eldercare & Rehabilitation Technology
University of Missouri
www.eldertech.missouri.edu
National Robotics Initiative PI Meeting, November 5-6, 2015

2. Aging in Place
• Living in the home of your choice as you age,
usually staying in your existing home
What do older adults want as they age?
• Independence, i.e., the ability to make their
own decisions
• High quality of life
• Good health or at least to feel healthy, i.e.,
successfully manage chronic health conditions

3. Squaring the Life Curve
With proactive care
Current trend
Functional Decline
Time
Rantz et al, Nursing Outlook, 2005

4. Clinical Care Coordinator
Sensors
Web
portal
&
Mobile
devices
Integration
&
Data
Storage
Detection of
Health
Change or
Functional
Decline
Alert
Manager
Sensor Network for Health Alerts
clinical decision support system
Alert Feedback
Health change
email alert
Skubic, et al., IEEE J. of Trans. Eng. in Health & Medicine, 2015
Sensor
Data
motion sensors
bed sensor
gait sensor

5. Squaring the Life Curve
With proactive care
Current trend
Functional Decline
Time
Rantz et al, Nursing Outlook, 2015
• TigerPlace residents without in-home
sensors stay almost 1 year longer than
seniors in comparable housing
• TigerPlace residents with in-home sensors
stay 1.7 years longer than those without
sensors at TigerPlace

6. Outline
• Needs and benefits
• Interface challenges
• The importance of physical activity
• How can robots help?

7. Needs and Benefits
• Older adults approach technology differently
than younger adults
• They want functional solutions that offer a
real benefit for them, i.e., satisfy a real need
• They often underestimate their own needs
Many papers… Demiris et al.; Rogers et al.; Czaja et al.

8. Interface Challenges
Loss in:
• Perception
– Vision
– Hearing
– Haptics
• Motor control
– Strength
– Fine motor skills
• Cognition – “fluid” abilities
– Processing speed
– Working memory
Designing Displays for Older Adults, CRC Press, 2011

9. The Importance of Physical Activity
low
physical
activity
poor
cardiovascular
health
higher risk
of physical
health
problems
higher risk
of cognitive
health
problems
better
cardiovascular
health
lower risk
of physical
health
problems
lower risk
of cognitive
health
problems
more physical activity
keep working
social
engagement
reduce inflammation (stress) Annual Conf., National Academy of Medicine, Oct, 2015

10. Outline
• Needs and benefits
• Interface challenges
• The importance of physical activity
• How can robots help?

11. Squaring the Life Curve
With proactive care
Current trend
Functional Decline
Time
Rantz et al, Nursing Outlook, 2005
Can robots help
keep a high
functional
ability?

12. Can robots help with these?
Promoting Cardiovascular Health
better
cardiovascular
health
lower risk
of physical
health
problems
lower risk
of cognitive
health
problems
more physical activity
social
engagement
keep working
reduce inflammation (stress)
Annual Conf., National Academy of Medicine, Oct, 2015

13. Squaring the Life Curve
With proactive care
Current trend
Functional Decline
Time
Rantz et al, Nursing Outlook, 2005
Can we achieve a
symbiosis of
robots and
humans?
…so that robots know what
the older adult needs now,
and offers only what is
necessary

14. Examples from NRI
• Q-HARP
– X. Shen, C. Ye,
A. Halli-Tierney,
L. Ting, S. Meek
• Rehab exoskeletal arm
– B. Gillespie, D. Remy, A. Kuo,
M. Krishnan, D. Ferris,
W. Durfee

15. Consider a variety of robots
• Adaptive beds and tables
• Adaptive bathrooms
• Arms for reaching high and low
• Rehabilitation aids in the home

16. Take-Away Messages
• Work with seniors and clinical partners to
understand the needs
• Watch the interface
– Interfaces for seniors ≠ Interfaces for juniors
• Increasing physical activity decreases risk of
physical AND cognitive impairments
• Think beyond assistive robots that provide
excuses for NOT moving
– A robot to support AIP is not necessarily the same as
an assistive robot for people with disabilities

17. Successful Aging in Place
www.eldertech.missouri.edu