Robot monitors in homes of elderly people can predict falls

Robotic movement sensing systems in the homes of elderly people can predict with a high level of accuracy when a person is at high risk of having a fall and send warnings to support workers or relatives, say researchers.

            The US study found that telltale signs, including a sudden decline in walking speed, were linked to an 86% chance of having a fall within the next three weeks. Elderly residents who were monitored by the system, which allowed clinicians to intervene before injuries occurred, were able to live independently for 1.8 years longer than those without the technology.

            The professor Marjorie Skubic said: “Our goal is to help people age in the home of their choice, which in many cases will be their existing home. People say ‘I want to stay in my own home’.”

            Skubic challenged the common assumption that the later years of life are accompanied by a depressing but inevitable downward trajectory in mental and physical abilities. With consistent monitoring and interventions, she said, it is possible to “square the life curve”, keeping people fit, healthy and living independently until they die.

            With this goal in mind, Skubic has even installed the system in the home of her own parents, Lou and Mary Ann, and gets daily readouts of any sudden changes in their physical activity. “This is very personal to me,” she added. “My mother just turned 93 and my father is 95. They live in their own home in South Dakota and they do not want to move. For my mother’s 93rd birthday I went to visit them and installed a sensor network in their own home. I hope that my parents die in their own beds, asleep, in their own home.”

            In one study, the scientists monitored 23 residents of an independent-living facility for elderly people, called Tiger Place, for between three months and four years each. They collected continual data on a Kinect-style system, which provided silhouette images that could be used to track a person’s daily movements.

            The system could also pick up health issues such as urinary tract infections, which can cause rapid physical and mental declines in elderly people if untreated, by spotting when someone started going to the bathroom more frequently. According to Skubic, participants in the scheme tend to find the idea of monitors watching their every movement reassuring rather than sinister or intrusive. “Some people talk about how they feel more secure,” she said.

Adapted from The Guardian 17^th February 2017

Question 1: [2,5 POINTS] Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.

      

      a)  The system can be considered trustworthy.

      b)  It is probable that an old person who starts walking slowlier is going to fall in a near future.

       c)  Skubic wants that elderly people live at their own homes.

       d)  The system will help people live without decline.

       e)  Skubic’s mother has celebrated her birthday recently.

Question 2: [1,5 POINTS] Find words or phrases in the text that correspond to the words and definitions given.

      

       a)  help par. 1

       b)  significant, important. par 2

       c)  objective par.3

       d)  unexpected. par 5

       e) facts par. 6

Question 3: [2 POINTS] Choose the most suitable answer (a, b or c) according to the text.

1.   The system can inform ...

      a)   both relatives and staff

      b)   people who are in charge of the elderly.

      c)   Professor Marjorie Skubic.

2.   If elderly residents hadn’t been monitored, they ...

      a)   wouldn’t have lived so long.

      b)   wouldn’t have lived so independently.

      c)   would have lived independently for longer.

3    Marjorie wishes ...

      a)   her parents died at home.

      b)   she had installed a sensor at her parents’ home.

      c)   her parents would live with her.

4.   Participants...

      a)   feel happy about being monitoriced.

      b)   feel they are being spied.

      c)   haven’t been asked to install the monitors.

Question 4: [4 POINTS] Write a short essay (about 120-150 words) on the following topic:

“Elderly people should live at old people’s homes” Do you agree with this statement?.

KEY

Question 1: [2,5 POINTS] Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.

      

       a)  True. “can predict with a high level of accuracy”

       b)  True. “a sudden decline in walking speed, were linked to an 86% chance of having a fall within the next three weeks”

       c)  False. “Our goal is to help people age in the home of their choice”

      d)  True. “, it is possible to “square the life curve”, keeping people fit, healthy and living independently until they die.”

       e)  True. “My mother just turned 93”

Question 2: [1,5 POINTS] Find words or phrases in the text that correspond to the words and definitions given.

      

       a)  support

       b)  telltale

       c)  goal

       d)  sudden

       e)  data

Question 3: [2 POINTS] Choose the most suitable answer (a, b or c) according to the text.

1. b)   people who are in charge of the elderly.

     

2. b)   wouldn’t have lived so independently.

     

3. a)   her parents died at home.

     

4. a)   feel happy about being monitoriced.