> Conference champions high-tech help for seniors

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Contact:
Gloria Gutman, 778.782.5063 (w), 604.767.2009 (cell); isg2010@sfu.ca
Andrew Sixsmith, 778.782.5375 (w); sixsmith@sfu.ca
Stuart Colcleugh, PAMR, 778.782.3219 (w), 604.986.1953 (cell); colcleugh@sfu.ca

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More than 400 of the world’s leading experts in geriatric health, housing and assistive technology are meeting in Vancouver May 27–30 at the International Society for Gerontechnology 7th World Conference, hosted by Simon Fraser University’s Gerontology Research Centre (GRC).

Through presentations, workshops and exhibits, gerontologists, engineers, computer scientists, architects, technology professionals, health-care providers, assisted-living companies and others will assess the latest research and technologies needed to address an expected tsunami of demand for eldercare services in the next few decades.

“We’re already dealing with the largest number of people over 65 in history,” says SFU gerontologist and founding GRC director, Gloria Gutman, who is in charge of logistics for the world conference—the first held in Canada—at the Marriott Pinnacle Hotel.

“People over 85 are the fastest-growing section of the population—and half of them have, or will have, Alzheimer's,” says Gutman.

“But those numbers are going to explode in the next few years as Canada’s 8 ½ million baby boomers reach old age, and so will the cost of caring for them.”

Conference topics include rehabilitation engineering, robotics, telemonitoring, telecare, information and communication technology (ICT), biomechanics and ergonomics, assistive technology, inclusive design and usability, smart homes and smart fabrics, sensor technology, and cognitive aging and computer games.

Participants will also see demonstrations of an array of new technologies, from smart-house systems and wearable devices that monitor people’s movements and vital signs, to pill bottles that tell you when to take your medicine and even an autonomous domestic robot named Nao.

Presenters include:

• SFU engineer Bozena Kaminska, who will showcase smart “Band-Aid” biosensors from her CiBER lab that detect and monitor vital signs in real time and transmit medical alerts to caregivers.
• SFU biomedical engineer Steve Robinovitch, who will present his team’s research on “real life” (as they happen) falls and their latest innovations: "fall-proof" flooring and wearable “air bags” triggered by sensors that detect an impending impact.

Technology may be the answer to maximizing scarce resources and providing better seniors care, “but not without safeguarding their security and privacy rights, and not at the cost of depression and isolation due to a loss of personal contact,” says Gutman, an expert on elder abuse.

“We have to find ways to maintain both.”

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Backgrounder:

SFU Gerontology Research Centre (GRC) director Andrew Sixsmith chairs the conference organizing and scientific program committees, and past chair and IAGG president Gloria Gutman heads up logistics, exhibits and sponsorship. An International scientific committee rounds out the team.

1) Opening Ceremonies:

• Diane Ablonczy, minister of state for seniors, will officially open the conference May 27 at 7 p.m. on behalf of the Government of Canada with an overview of Canadian initiatives for seniors.
• Ida Chong, B.C. minister of healthy living and sport, will speak for the province.
• Warren Gill, vice-president of university affairs, will speak for SFU.
• Alain Franco, president of the International Society for Gerontechnology will give the opening address on the conference’s theme: Technologies for Health, Quality of Life and Aging-in-Place,
• The Vancouver Naval Veterans Band will also perform during the ceremonies.

2) The conference’s other keynote speakers are:

• John Beard, director of the World Health Organization’s department of aging and life course in Geneva, Switzerland. Beard will talk about various approaches his organization is exploring to overcome the physical limitations of aging and break down the barriers that prevent older people from continuing to work and contribute to society.
• Eric Dishman, director of health research and innovation for computer-chip maker Intel Corp.’s Digital Health Group. Dishman will discuss how the convergence of computing, communications, consumer electronics and medical technologies now allows people to live at home longer through home-based health and behavioural monitoring, social support and caregiver engagement.
• AntheaTinker, a professor of gerontology at King’s College London (U.K.), will critique recent developments in telemedicine and telecare along with computer and telephone advances. She’ll also discuss the viability of technology being able to support very frail older people, many of whom will have dementia, to age in place.
• Geoff Fernie, vice-president of research at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, will discuss the challenges of inventing affordable new products and services to help the informal caregivers of frail seniors. He’ll also discuss products Toronto Rehab researchers are developing to help with the most demanding caregiver tasks including assisting with mobility, toileting, bathing and dressing.

3) The conference features 28 symposia, 80 papers and more than 100 posters as well as expert roundtables on subjects including:

• Domotics and robotics for supporting seniors
• Telehealth and chronic disease management
• Falls detection and response
• Ethical considerations around the use of information and communication technologies with older people
• Reminder devices, assistive technology and robotics
• Falls prevention, exoskeletons and wearable sensors
• Nao the humanoid Robot
• The use of activity monitoring in care for persons with dementia
• Active and passive monitoring technologies to support aging-in-place

The conference ends with the John K. Friesen Public Forum for Seniors on May 30 from 1-4 p.m. Friesen, aged 98, is one of Canada's leading contributors to the field of adult education. In his long career, he has served in university extension work in Canada and overseas and was involved in enhancing life in many different ways from community arts to credit unions.

4) Conference exhibitors include:

• Aldebaran Robotics’ autonomous 58-cm (two-foot) humanoid robot, Nao.
• Hur pneumatic exercise equipment for seniors and the disabled
• The Alzheimer Society of Canada
• The British Columbia Alliance on Telehealth Policy and Research
• The British Columbia Network for Aging Research
• The Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health
• CareToCall, telephone reminder and health and safety check-up service
• The Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Aging
• Toronto Rehab’s iDAPT motion simulator, which mimics environmental challenges faced by the elderly and disabled
• The International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics
• The International Network for Prevention of Elder Abuse
• The International Society for Gerontechnology
• Providence Lifeline medical alarm service
• The Oregon Center for Aging & Technology (ORCATECH)
• The Simon Fraser University Gerontology Research Centre
• The Netherlands
• UbiQuiet medical telemonitoring

4) Pre-conference site visits:

Adaptable Housing at its Best, May 27, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Tours of three homes built to the SAFERhomeTM Standard:

• The Goldberg Residence, a “smart ready” False Creek apartment dubbed “the most universal home in British Columbia” for aging in place.
• The South East False Creek Vancouver City Seniors Housing in the Olympic Village
• The West 63rd Home, in South Vancouver built in 2002 by the Vancouver Resource Society to house four of their clients.

Research in Progress, SFU-BCIT Laboratory Tour, May 27, 1 - 4 p.m.

Visits to four seniors- and technology-related research labs:

• Biomedical engineer Steve Robinovitch’s Injury Prevention and Mobility Lab, SFU Burnaby campus: Visitors will learn about ongoing studies in experimental neuromechanics, the biomechanics of balance and posture, perceptual influences on mobility and balance, and safe landing response. Includes stops at motion-capture studios where visitors will see “tether release” experiments and the “falling laboratory.”
• Engineer Bozena Kaminska’s CiBER Centre for Computational and Integrative Bio-Engineering Research, SFU Burnaby Campus: Kaminska’s team invents technology solutions matched to emerging disease patterns and pandemic threats worldwide and to provide labour-saving tools to reduce the burdens of aging on seniors and their caregivers. Products developed to date include disposable wearable wireless miniature biosensors.
• Biomedical physiologist Andy Hoffer’s Neurokinesiology Laboratory, SFU Burnaby campus: Hoffer’s team focuses on the neural control of movement and neural prostheses. Current projects include the Neurostep fully implanted assistive device for treating foot drop, 3-D imaging of peripheral nerves for surgical implantation of neuroprosthetic devices and biomechanical energy harvesters.
• The Dr. Tong Louie Living Laboratory, a research facility jointly developed and operated by SFU’s Gerontology Research Centre and the British Columbia Institute of Technology’s Technology Centre, at BCIT’s downtown Vancouver campus. Led by SFU’s Andrew Sixsmith and BCIT’s Kristine Flegal, the “living lab” conducts research and training to improve the relationship between people and the environment in which they live and work.

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