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 17th 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.
