Intel designing a high tech future for aging in place
Posted on 01 May 2008
Permanent URL of this article: http://retirementrevised.com/column/intel-designing-a-high-tech-future-for-aging-in-place
There was a time-not long ago-when we didn’t use computers or digital media players to manage our music collections or watch TV. Now we could be approaching something like an era of iPods for aging. At least, that’s Eric Dishman’s vision of the near-term future.
Dishman spearheads a major initiative to develop “personal health technologies” at Intel Corp., where he is general manager and global director of product research and innovation. He oversees Intel’s Digital Health Group, which is researching technology that could revolutionize personal technology for an aging global population-everything from capturing your vital signs at home to enabling an online chat with a medical professional.
The coming age wave threatens an explosion in medical costs at a time when health care delivery systems already are severely strained. “This isn’t just a business opportunity for Intel, but a cultural mandate,” Dishman says. “We need to figure out how to use personal health technologies to care for people.”
Intel is pursing ways to help people age in place and avoid expensive, life-threatening hospitalizations through improved prevention, detection and in-home connectivity. “Almost everything we have now focuses on the point when a person already is sick, and bringing you back from edge with miraculous technologies,” he says. “We pay lip service to prevention and early detection.”
Hundreds of companies and university researchers are pursuing these innovations, but Intel brings to bear the heft and resources of one of the world’s largest and best-respected technology companies. Dishman will outline Intel’s vision for personal health as a featured speaker at a May 9 conference on technology and aging sponsored by UCLA.
So far, the company’s research has involved close-up study of older people in 1,000 households in 20 countries worldwide. Here are some of the most promising ideas the company is developing:
Monitoring Parkinson’s disease. Intel recently finished testing a personal health device that allows physicians to monitor Parkinson’s patients’ tremors remotely. “The problem with Parkinson’s today is that the disease is incredibly variable,” Dishman says. “The doctor might see a patient on Tuesday and he’s fine, but that same patient could be having extreme tremors on Wednesday. “Sending patients in to see the doctor once a year for a 15-minute exam-and using that exam to determine the drugs they will take-is insane.”
Intel’s approach uses sensors and diagnostic devices in the home tied to a computer. The system monitors a patient’s voice to identify changes that indicate progression of disease. It also incorporates a finger-tapping device that judges the accuracy of finger movements.
Preventing falls. Injuries from falling down are a leading cause of hospitalization for older people, and often start downward spirals in health that lead to death. Intel research suggests that perhaps half of all falls can be prevented through monitoring of subtle changes in body movement. The company has developed a wearable sensor that measures the length of a person’s stride and detects neurological problems or muscle mass decline. When the conditions are detected, preventative measures can be taken.
Fighting isolation. Losing the ability to drive is a major cause of isolation for older people. At a research lab in Ireland, Intel put basic GPS systems into the cars of older people who still do drive, and linked them to online Google Maps that display their routes to non-drivers who might need rides. “It became a ride-sharing board, using a bit of intelligent technology. That is disruptive technology because it provides social contact and a way to be mobile.”
Communications help for Alzheimer’s patients. Intel has been working on what Dishman calls “caller I.D. on steroids. It’s a small screen that sits next to a patient’s landline phone and displays a photo of the caller, along with a short text blurb describing who the person is, the last time you spoke and what you discussed. The blurb is there because the patient typed a few notes into a database after that last conversation.”
That last example is interesting because it points to a key question about in-home technology: will people adapt and use it?
Dishman believes that depends on demonstrating a clear benefit to the patient. But he also thinks concerns about the resistance to technology are overstated. “You have to design it well and make it easy to use, but we’ve been able to take people with advanced dementia and teach them to use the caller I.D. system. Sometimes we tend to infantilize older people and treat them like idiots, without making clear the value in learning something new.”
Dishman also thinks that baby boomers-many of whom have had a life-long love affair with technology and gadgets-will demand sophisticated technologies as they age-and even sooner, as they help care for their own aging parents. “We’re going to have a very large group of retirees who are much more familiar with computers and cell phones. It’s going to be a much more tech-savvy population.”
May 2nd, 2008 at 1:48 pm
I was particularly struck by Eric Dishman’s comment re: the focus of our health care system on heroic — and expensive — interventions when someone is already sick. This week, I went for my annual complete physical which I consider a gift to myself and to society. Once again, I was obliged to play this dumb game wherein I must come up with a symptom to justify what should be a routine (and Medicare covered) test. In case your readers don’t already know this, Medicare does not pay for the complete physical, the standard in preventive care. My MD, who I have great respect for as a diagnostician, spends as much time filling out forms as examining me, and I’m in and out of her office in 30 minutes, tops. Personal health technologies? Bring them on!