Preventing Fires Associated With Gas Cooking Appliances Among Older Adults

描述（由申请人提供）：“就地老龄化”是美国人口老龄化的目标。然而，无人看管的烹饪引起的火灾是老年人火灾相关伤害和死亡的主要原因。此外，对老年人安全的这种关切往往导致照顾者和家庭成员将老年人从他们独立生活的家庭中移走，并将他们安置在机构或大家庭中。这种剧变会对老年人的自尊感和生活质量产生不利影响，并造成重大的经济负担。为了改善美国老年人的健康和福祉，并使他们能够享受独立生活，将设计和制造一种创新的安全装置，以满足对燃气烹饪器具主动关闭装置的需求，该装置可以防止火灾发生，而不是简单地警告居住者火灾已经开始。在第一阶段，研究工作将确定产品操作需求，并建立初步的产品规格。将开发产品概念，并进行权衡分析以确定最佳概念。最后，在第一阶段，将建立和测试实验室研究模型，这将验证设计的可行性。在第二阶段的研究工作中，将设计和制造一个研究原型系统。将制订燃气灶改装程序，并在具代表性的燃气灶上测试原型。市场对HomeSense企业开发和销售的现有烹饪电器产品的需求一直是积极的。然而，许多潜在客户表示需要燃气烹饪版本。根据该计划开发的产品具有极高的商业化成功可能性。随着人口老龄化，老年人越来越关心他们晚年的生活质量，美国的公共卫生费用正在失去控制。独立生活不仅对许多老年人来说更可取，而且在经济上也更有益。在家中为老年人提供干预服务的费用是受监督环境的20%至25%。该项目的成功完成将使超过800万使用燃气灶具的老年人获得一种新型产品，帮助他们在自己的家庭环境中更安全地保持独立性，并使他们成为新兴的老年人生活方式概念的一部分“就地老龄化”。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): "Aging in Place" is the goal of America's aging population. Yet fires caused by unattended cooking are the leading cause of fire-related injuries and deaths among older adults. Additionally, this concern for the safety of older adults often causes caregivers and family members to remove older adults from their households where they live independently, and place them in institutions or in the extended family's household. This upheaval can have a detrimental impact on the older adult's sense of self-esteem and quality of life, as well as causing a significant financial burden. To improve the health and well being of older Americans, and enable them to enjoy their independence, an innovative safety device will be designed and fabricated that meets the need for a proactive gas cooking appliance shut-off device that prevents fires from occurring rather than simply warning occupants that a fire has started. During Phase I the research effort product operational requirements will be identified and a preliminary product specification established. Product concepts will be developed and a trade-off analysis will identify the best concepts. Finally in Phase I, laboratory research models will be built and tested, which will validate the feasibility of the designs. During the Phase II research effort, a research prototype system will be designed and fabricated. Gas cooking appliance retrofit procedures will be developed, and the prototype will be tested on representative gas cooking appliances. Marketplace demand for an existing product for electric cooking appliances that has been developed and sold by HomeSense Enterprises has been positive. However many prospective customers have expressed a need for a gas-cooking version. The product that will be developed under this program has an exceptionally high probability for commercialization success. As the population ages, and older adults become more concerned with their quality of life in their older years, public health costs in America are spiraling out of control. Living independently is not only more desirable for many older adults, but also more beneficial financially. The costs of maintaining an older adult in their home with intervention services is 20% to 25% that of a supervised environment. Successful completion of this project will allow over 8 million aging adults that use gas-cooking appliances access to a novel product that helps allow them to maintain their independence more safely in their own household environment, and enables them to be part of the emerging senior lifestyle concept of "Aging in Place".