Baby Boomers who become cognitively impaired are
more likely to retain independence longer with
assisted cognition technology
ROCHESTER, N.Y., Dec. 28 /PRNewswire/
-- Alzheimer's disease costs American businesses
$61 billion annually -- $36.5 billion
of that total is attributed to the cost of lost
productivity, absenteeism and worker replacement
when employees become caregivers to family members
afflicted with the disease, according to a 2006 Fact
Sheet published by the Alzheimer's Association.
While there are currently an estimated 4.5 million
Americans with the disease, by 2050, the number
could grow to 16 million.
GPS (Global
Positioning System) technology has the potential to
reduce the cost of caring for Alzheimer's sufferers,
which will benefit aging Baby Boomers, and the
workforce that will be impacted by family caregiving
responsibilities.
For example, researchers are partnering with
technology- and health- related companies to develop
new wander management technologies designed to
preserve patient independence and reduce stress
associated with caregiving. One such project aims to
improve upon the Safe Return program for Alzheimer's
patients that was successfully implemented by the
U.S. Department of Justice and the National
Alzheimer's Association in 1994. The project
provides cognitively impaired individuals with an
accessory, such as a pin or bracelet that uses
GPSS mapping
software and cell phone networks to alert caregivers
via e-mail when a patient has wandered out of a
pre-designated area.
Another project currently in research and
development is the Activity Compass, a device
designed to memorize a patient's daily routine, and
offer advice and directions when it determines that
he may be lost or confused. Over time, the device
will learn a user's typical schedule, monitor the
user's actions, sense location, direction of travel,
velocity of movement and so on. If it detects
variations in a routine, it will decide if a prompt
to guide the user is necessary. The device will be
designed to learn from interactions with the user
and adapt to changing behavior as the disease
progresses.