Planning Grant: Engineering Research Center for Connected Eldercare

美国超过80%的COVID死亡病例为65岁及以上的人群，其中超过40%的死亡病例发生在养老院和长期护理机构。目前，在人的老年人护理的做法造成了许多集群感染病例的护理设施。疫情亦严重影响了美国及全球的家庭护理、日间护理、探访护士及所有上门护理服务，显示目前的护理实务及系统非常脆弱。如果能以其他方式补充亲自护理，这些悲惨的案件就能得到更好的处理。该规划项目将探索一种新的远程护理系统，通过利用远程医疗技术来补充所有面对面服务。在疫情期间，我们观察到远程医疗服务迅速增长;人们可以方便和安全地从远处接触医疗专业人员。一旦人们使用远程医疗并认识到其有用性，即使在大流行病减弱之后，他们也会继续使用远程医疗。在本规划项目中，将探讨在偏远地区为老年人提供物质支持，使他们能够安全地独立生活的可行性和潜在影响。目标是为老年人提供信息和物质支持，而无需现场亲自护理。遥控机器人将帮助老年人四处走动和做日常家务。将研究三大挑战。首先，必须建立技术来设计一个步行型的移动辅助机器人，可以防止老年人摔倒，帮助老年人在坐和站之间过渡，并在日常活动中提供无缝支持。其次，在远程护理人员的监督下，机器人必须与老年用户进行沟通，并在提供物理支持时获得他/她的合作态度。第三，也是成功部署该技术的关键，必须创建劳动力发展课程。虽然技术必须适合老年人护理的环境，但必须为培训护理提供者制定有效和吸引人的课程。为此，将汇集广泛的专业知识，从机器人技术，生物医学和康复工程，人机系统，网络和人工智能到老年医学，护理，心理学，工商管理和政策。在这个规划项目中，将通过专家访谈、现场访问、在线和面对面研讨会以及网络研讨会组建一个融合的研究团队。为了更好地规划建立一个新的NSF老年人护理工程研究中心，将从技术、社会和经济专家以及利益相关者那里寻求广泛的投入。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Over 80% of COVID deaths in the United States were people aged 65 and older, and over 40% of these deaths took place in nursing homes and long-term care facilities. Current in-person eldercare practices caused numerous cluster infection cases in nursing facilities. The pandemic has also severely impacted home care, day care, visiting nurses, and all in-person care services in the US and worldwide, showing current nursing practices and systems are vulnerable. Those tragic cases could be better handled if in-person care could be supplemented by other means. This planning project will explore a new remote care system for supplementing all in-person services by exploiting telemedicine technology. During the pandemic, we have observed a rapid growth of telemedicine services; people can easily and safely get access to medical professionals from a distance. Once people use telemedicine and realize its usefulness, they will continue to use it even after the pandemic winds down. In this planning project, the feasibility and potential impact of if elderly people can be supported physically from a remote site, so that they can live safely and independently, will be investigated.The goal is to provide elderly people with both informational and physical supports without on-site in-person care. Remotely-operated robots will assist elderly people in moving around and performing daily chores. Three major challenges will be investigated. First, the technology must be established for designing a walker-type, mobility-aid robot that can prevent the elderly from falling, assist the elderly in transitioning between sitting and standing, and provide a seamless support throughout daily activities. Second, under the supervision of a remote caregiver, the robot must communicate with the elderly user and gain a cooperative attitude from him/her in providing physical supports. Third and key to successful deployment of the technology, a workforce development curriculum must be created. While the technology must fit the environment of eldercare, effective and engaging curricula must be developed for training care providers. To this end, broad expertise, ranging from robotics, biomedical and rehabilitation engineering, human-machine systems, networking and AI to geriatrics, nursing, psychology, business administration, and policy, will be brought together. In this planning project, a converging research team will be formed through expert interviews, site visits, online and in-person workshops, and webinars. A broad spectrum of input will be sought from technical, social, and economics experts and stakeholders for better planning for the establishment of a new NSF engineering research center for connected eldercare.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.