Development and Validation of a Smart Phone Based System to Enhance Gait, Cognition and Socialization in Elderly Fallers

Development and Validation of a Smart Phone Based System to Enhance Gait, Cognition and Socialization in Elderly Fallers

The main objective of this research is to develop and validate a technology-based solution that addresses the diminished mobility, increased fall risk and impaired cognitive function that are so common among older adults, enabling them to live longer successfully and independently.

A comprehensive system will be developed to promote mobility, enhance cognitive function, reduce sedentary behavior, increase independence and encourage social inclusion. This novel system will have two distinct yet complementary features: monitoring and treatment that will serve as an "all in one system". The system will consist of wearable sensors and a proprietary developed application. The wearable inertial sensors will measure the acceleration and orientation of the feet during movement. The sensors will feed real-time data to the system, which will process this data using a set of proprietary algorithms enabling continuous monitoring of activity, gait and fall risk, and independence. In addition, designated applications for direct cognitive assessment and training of older adults in their home and community environment will also be used via the Smart phone or mobile tablet. The training, both physical and cognitive, will also include multi-user interactions .Data collected by the system will be processed and integrated to provide comprehensive feedback from multiple domains to the user, caregiver and clinician by way of recommendations and personalized treatment goals.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Ages of 65-85 years
• History of 1 fall or more in the year prior to the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Signs of dementia : Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCa) <21 and/or mini mental state examination(MMSE) <24.
• Psychiatric co-morbidities :major depression as determined by Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) IV criteria
• Co-existing somatic disorders
• History of stroke
• Neurologic disorders that interferes with normal walking (e.g., Parkinson's disease or Alzheimer's disease),
• Cannot walk without assistance,
• Severe head trauma or brain tumor,
• Severe hearing or visual loss (determined by the visual acuity test),
• Cardio-vascular contradictions (as determined by a physician),
• Inability to use a Smart phone because of visual and manual impairment or have unstable medical conditions.