Pierre Rumeau

Aging society and gerontechnology: A solution for an independent living?

Recent studies report that the majority of older adults wish to live in their own homes, for as long as possible. This creates a growing interest in technologies to enable older people to remain living independently at home. The purpose of this article is to provide a narrative review of current technology appropriate for older adults’ home use. The key research questions were as follow: 1- What is the evidence demonstrating that gerontechnologies are effective in enabling independent living? 2- What are devices designed specifically for frail elderly persons ? Several publications were identified about devices targeting social isolation (videophonic communication, affective orthotic devices or companion-type robots, personal emergency response systems [security]), autonomy loss (technologies for maintenance of autonomy in the activities of daily living) and cognitive disorders (cognitive orthotics, wandering management systems, telemonitoring). Very few articles dealt specifically with the frail older person. In particular, there was extremely limited evidence on use and efficacy of these devices within this population. There is a need to obtain a consensus on definition of the technologies, and also to revisit work strategies and develop innovative business models. To meet this goal, we need to create a network of technological companies, aging services organizations, end-users, academics, and government representatives to explore the real needs of the frail older population and to develop and validate new devices promoting aging at home.

Studying Point-Select-Drag Interaction Techniques for Older People with Cognitive Impairment

Graphical user interfaces and interactions that involve pointing to items and dragging them are becoming more common in rehabilitation and assistive technologies. We are currently investigating interaction techniques to understand point-select-drag interactions for older people with cognitive impairment. In particular, this study reports how older perform such tasks. Significant differences in behavior between all of the interaction techniques are observed and the reasons for these differences are discussed according the cognitive impairment.

Investigating drag and drop techniques for older people with cognitive impairment

Graphical user interfaces and interactions that involve pointing to items and dragging them are becoming more common in rehabilitation and assistive technologies. We are currently investigating interaction techniques to understand point-select-drag interactions for older people with cognitive impairment. In particular, this study reports how older perform such tasks. Significant differences in behavior between all of the interaction techniques are observed and the reasons for these differences are discussed according the Mini Mental Score.

Telemedicine for the management of neuropsychiatric symptoms in long-term care facilities: the DETECT study, methods of a cluster randomised controlled trial to assess feasibility

Introduction Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPSs) in elderly patients with dementia are frequent in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) and are associated with adverse events. Telemedicine is an emerging way to provide consultation and care to dependent LTCF residents who may not have easy access to specialty services. Several studies have evaluated telemedicine for dementia care but to date, no study has evaluated its impact in the management of NPS in patients with dementia living in LTCF. Methods and analysis The Dementia in long-term care facilities: Telemedicine for the management of neuropsychiatric symptoms (DETECT) study is a 24-month multicentre prospective cluster randomised controlled study with two arms: a control arm (usual care) and an intervention arm (telemedicine consultation) for NPSs management. DETECT enrolled 20 LTCFs. The primary outcome is based on the acceptability of the telemedicine among the LTCF staff which will be assessed in the intervention group by quantitative and qualitative indicators. The rate of unscheduled hospitalisations and/or consultations due to disruptive NPSs, psychotropic drug use and health costs will be described in both groups. Approximately, 200 patients are expected to be recruited. Ethics and dissemination The study protocol was approved and sponsored by the French Ministry of Health. The study received ethical approval from the Toulouse University Hospital Institutional Review Board. We will communicate the final results to the public via conferences and results will also be submitted for publication in international peer-reviewed scientific journals. Trial registration number NCT02472015.