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Alyssa Weakley — a clinical neuropsychologist, researcher and a caregiver to an older adult — has assisted in the creation of a technology platform that is designed to more easily connect older adults with their family members and caregivers to better support aging-in-place goals.
“You never not worry,” Weakley, a researcher at the University of California at Davis, told the university in a news story that highlights her work. “As a clinical neuropsychologist, I know how cognitive impairment can affect almost every facet of an older adult’s life. I knew there needed to be a solution to improve their life at home while easing the stress on their loved ones.”
Understanding the overwhelming preference that older Americans have to age in place, Weakley spearheaded the design and development of the Interactive Care (I-Care) platform. I-Care is specifically designed to better connect older adults who have cognitive issues with family members who may live apart from them. The idea is to provide support in completing important daily tasks and activities.
I-Care seeks to offer a streamlined design that speaks to the needs of older adults with cognitive impairment, as well as the needs of “caregivers and experts in caregiving, dementia and technology development.” There are six core functions that it relies upon.
The first is a homepage featuring important daily information such as the current weather, upcoming appointments and any new caregiver messages. It also features a calendar that either the caregiver or recipient can modify.
The other features include a to-do list, a messaging center “where care partners can send messages and make video calls,” a notes section where things like doctor’s appointments or leisure information can be stored, and a “goals” section to help the recipient with tracking “brain health behaviors such as exercise and cognitive engagement.”
One key concern that accompanies aging in place is the potential for loneliness and isolation, but Weakley explained that she aimed to account for this in I-Care’s design.
“Not only does I-Care assist with managing everyday activities, but it also addresses social isolation and loneliness in the care receiver and stress and worry in the caregiver,” Weakley told UC Davis. “The platform also captures backend data. We hope to use this data to alert individuals when subtle changes occur that may suggest cognitive or health decline.”
Following “multiple rounds of iterative interface development with experts, individuals with cognitive impairment and caregivers,” Weakley launched a pilot round of use with cognitively impaired individuals and their caregivers to test the platform’s real-world feasibility.
Leeann Patton, an 84-year-old resident of Citrus Heights, California, who struggles to remember certain details like doctor’s appointments, is one person who uses I-Care from a computer to connect her with her sister in Southern California.
“It’s in the dining room area on the table, right out where I can use it with no problem,” Patton told the university. “It backs me up where I’ve lost cognition and puts me back in charge of what I’ve forgot.”
A new phase of development will involve the installation of subtle vibrational sensors throughout the care recipient’s home, which are designed to help caregivers track daily activities such as getting out of bed or taking a medication. Weakley has partnered with UC Merced engineering professor Shijia Pan to develop the devices.
As aging in place becomes an increasingly preferred option among seniors, other localities have tried to implement smart technology to assist older people.
In 2022, New York State’s Office for the Aging announced that it had started a program to deploy smart-home technology to combat feelings of senior isolation. One year later, an assessment of the program found that it helped lead to a 95% reduction in feelings of loneliness for program participants, along with high levels of user engagement.
