No matter where you live, aging is always one of the most challenging periods of life. Depending on their age and state of health, old people usually require constant care and attention. Sometimes, the kids might be out of home or may not be available to provide round-the-clock care for their aged parents. As such, there is the need for some additional assistance for seniors to complement whatever their kids or care-givers are able to do.
In this presentation, we are going to look into the following important points:
- The challenges of getting old
- Available Computer assisted technology for old people - ElliQ
Lets start by looking at some issues or difficulties that obviously come with aging.
The Challenges of getting old
The more we age, the more our ability to coordinate physical and mental activities reduces. Depending on how much care is provided to an aged person and their living environment, these physical and mental powers might diminish faster than one realizes. As
As you can see above, I have placed the challenges into physical and mental categories.
The physical categories represent things an old person is able to do with their physical strength. This starts to reduce. Some of the signs may include:
Weak bones and joint pains: As one ages, the bones grow weaker and are not able to support their body weight adequately. As a result, old people struggle to carry out basic physical tasks involving movement such as binding to pick something, sitting and standing, walking, etc. It is not surprising then to see old people that are confirmed to wheelchairs, or use some walking sticks to support their movement. The more bones grow weak and pains creep up at the joints, it becomes an increased challenge for an old person to move at all.
Failing eyesight: Do not be surprised your grandma or grandpa will someday ask who you are. Its easy to understand that their sight is no longer as strong as it used to be when they are young. The eyes grow weaker and dimmer too. Old people need glasses to read and see well. And they need bigger fonts for anything they need to read such as medication labels, etc.
Loss of taste, hearing, etc Another physical challenge of aging is the loss of taste and inability to hear well. Some old people are considered partially deaf because they have lost as much as 50% of their hearing ability. When it comes to the power of taste, this too is greatly reduced. As such, some old people struggle to feed well because they do not seem to enjoy food that is delicious. Because they cannot taste well.
The mental cognition for most old people is another challenge they have to battle. So difficulties in this area include:
- Loss of memory: This is the commonest mental challenge that some old people face. Difficulty in remembering basic things can creep in. They can easily forget who family members are, what they were talking about or even to take their drugs. This loss of memory could lead to other challenges or complications if care is not taken. It might become difficult to do minor tasks and coordinate physical activities too. At this rate, the complication of memory loss and the associated lack of physical coordination has progressed to dementia. The more time passes, the more this condition becomes worse - the more the old person requires constant care and attention.
Available Computer assisted technology for old people - ElliQ
Like I mentioned before, old people might require 24/7 attention depending on the state of their health and physical conditions. If they are still living at home with family members, providing this round-the-clock support might be a big challenge. Happily, there are many ways care could be provided using technology.
Computer assisted technology for old people is a vast field which cannot be exhausted in one presentation. There are technologies that attempt to provide some specific form of support such as improving eyesight, hearing or strengthening bones. But in this presentation, I will feature an AI gadget that aims at providing a host of services for old people similar to what a human companion does. This AI gadget is called ElliQ.
ElliQ - AI helping hand for Seniors
ElliQ tries to create a human presence and companionship for the elderly. This robotic gadget was developed by an Israeli firm to assist the elderly get some work done when no one is around. It comes with a voice control feature which ensures the old user can give commands without having to move.
ElliQ comes with a camera so family members can keep an eye on how mama or papa is fairing it home. So ElliQ is basically designed for old people that are left at home alone when everyone is gone to work or school. Below are some features that make ElliQ truly a great companion for old people:
Voice control and interaction: ElliQ can play music, give reminders such as doctors appointment, receive voice commands and hold a brief conversation.
Social media integration: It can connect to the user's social media pages and allow them to share pictures and other form of content.
Video calls and remote monitoring: Loved ones can watch home away from home using ElliQ video features. They can see how the old person is doing and even place video calls through the device.
Online Content: The device can feed content from the internet such as news, weather reports, etc.
Conclusion
Old people are still valuable members of the society and deserves the best care available. While they struggle with the challenges of being old, computer technology can assist care-givers to deliver enough support to seniors. ElliQ has been of tremendous support to many old people around the world. Technologies like this improve the lives of old people and give family members a little breathing space. More information about this gadget can be seen in their official website.
Note:
This presentation is for educational purposes and does not represent endorsement.
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