Aging Boomers Seek TECH Rx
From: EE Times - 12/19/2005 - No. 1402, P. 1
By: Rick Merritt

Presenters at last week's White House Conference on Aging called for the
creation of research and development initiatives for applying technology to
enhance the lives of the elderly population, which is expected to expand
globally from 600 million people now to 1.2 billion in about two decades. "By
and large, getting funding seems to be extraordinarily difficult in [the
field of elderly-assistive technology]," said University of Michigan
professor Martha Pollack. "It seems to fall between the cracks of agencies
that don't work on health issues, like the National Science Foundation, and
government health agencies that don't sponsor technology research."
Researchers stressed the need for core work in areas such as sensor networks,
artificial intelligence, user interfaces, robotics, location-based services,
and privacy and security to fulfill senior citizens' requirements. But they
also emphasized the importance of engineers collaborating with service
providers, policy makers, caregivers, and users. Pollack testified before
Congress last year that lawmakers should establish a joint funding program
involving the participation of the NSF and either the National Institute on
Aging or the National Institute on Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering that
would act as a stable funding source for assistive technology. Intel group
manager and chairman of the Center for Aging Services Technologies Eric
Dishman said delegates at last week's White House conference recommended,
among other things, the development of incentives to spur proper use of
health information technology. He expects recommendations to also include a
request for a national commission to encourage innovation and R&D to better
the aging experience, and the urging of incentives for widespread
implementation of telehealth technologies. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.eetonline.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=175004464

Links:
Martha E. Pollack
http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~pollackm/

Intelligent Cognitive Orthotics
http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~pollackm/Pollack-web_files/nursebot/index.htm