Multifunctional Flooring: Design for Independent Living

英国人口老龄化，目前有1200万65岁及以上的人口，预计到2040年将增长到1750万。随着年龄的增长，经历多种慢性和复杂健康状况的可能性增加。不幸的是，根据英国公共卫生的一份报告，健康预期寿命的增长速度没有与预期寿命同步，这导致老年人健康状况不佳的时间增加。健康老龄化极其重要，可对老年人的生活质量和幸福感产生直接影响。世界卫生组织(WHO)将健康老龄化定义为“发展和保持使老年人幸福的功能能力的过程”。跌倒和相关伤害是老年人面临的一个主要健康问题，具有重大的长期身体和精神影响，导致自理能力和参与身体和社会活动的能力进一步下降。根据世界卫生组织的数据，跌倒是65岁及以上人群受伤死亡的主要原因，其中一半发生在自己家里。大约30%的65岁以上的人和50%的80岁以上的人每年至少跌倒一次。在英国，与跌倒相关的伤害估计每年花费NHS超过23亿GB。英国约10%的救护车服务呼叫是针对65岁以上跌倒的人，这导致约60%的病例被送往医院。跌倒可能造成的伤害范围很深，其中髋部骨折和创伤性脑损伤具有最严重的后果和长期影响。髋部骨折的老年人中，只有31%的人能在日常生活活动中恢复到以前的水平。根据皇家医师学会的数据，大约25%的65岁以上的髋部骨折患者因此需要长期护理。适当的住房可以让老年人保持更长时间的健康，支持他们独立生活，并减少对社会护理的需求。住房改造对于帮助老年人适应功能能力下降很重要。根据英国公共卫生组织的数据，在英国，未解决的跌倒危险估计每年要花费英国国民健康保险制度4.35亿英镑。在这项提案中，我们的目标是通过将住宅改造成更安全的环境来减少老年人的跌倒和相关伤害。这可以对日常生活中的幸福感和独立性产生深远的影响，因为它可以减轻人们对在家摔倒的恐惧，并增加行动能力，这是健康老龄化的主要支柱之一。我们将通过整体设计方法来实现这一点，开发集被动防坠、检测和保护于一体的新型多功能地板。将考虑各种功能需求，包括机械需求：i)行走时的僵硬反应，提供稳定性和降低跌倒风险；ii)受冲击时的顺应性，提供被动冲击保护，降低严重受伤的风险；以及iii)轮子对象兼容性，减少疲劳。将纳入传感需求，包括：i)被动和非侵入性的运动跟踪，监测跌倒的风险；以及ii)跌倒检测，提供跌倒后的快速应急反应，限制跌倒伤害的严重程度。我们将创建设计地图，通过对整个设计空间的系统探索来捕捉不同所需功能之间的权衡。这个设计空间可以被开发成多功能地板，帮助设计师为特定的护理环境提供最佳解决方案。该项目涉及工程和公共卫生领域的多学科学者小组，患者和公众的大力参与，以及与商业地板覆盖物的两大制造商Polyflor和Tarkett以及触摸技术的领先提供商MicroChip的合作。

The UK has an ageing population, currently with 12 million people aged 65 and over and projected growth to 17.5 million by 2040. The possibility of experiencing multiple chronic and complex health conditions increases with age. Unfortunately, according to a Public Health England report, healthy life expectancy has not risen at the same pace as life expectancy, which has resulted in the time spent in poor health increasing for older adults. Healthy ageing is vitally important and can have a direct impact on the quality of life and the sense of well-being in older people. The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines healthy ageing as "the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables well-being in older age." Falls and related injuries are a major health issue facing older people, with significant long-term physical and mental effects that cause further decline in self-care abilities and participation in physical and social activities. According to the WHO, falls are the leading cause of injury deaths amongst people aged 65 and above, with half occurring in their own home. About 30% of people aged 65+and 50% of those aged 80+ experience a fall at least once per year. In the UK, fall related injuries are estimated to cost the NHS more than £2.3 billion annually. About 10% of all UK ambulance service calls are for people over 65 who have fallen, which leads to about 60% of cases being taken to hospital. The range of injuries that one can sustain from a fall are profound, with hip fracture and traumatic brain injuries having the most serious consequences and long-term effects. Only 31% of older people experiencing hip fracture will return to their previous level in activities of daily living. According to Royal College of Physicians, around 25% of hip fracture patients aged 65+ consequently need long-term care. Proper housing can keep older people healthy for longer, support them in living independently and reduce the need for social care. Housing modifications are important to assist older people in their adaptation to declining functional capacity. Unaddressed fall hazards in the home are estimated to cost the NHS in England £435 million annually according to Public Health England. In this proposal, we aim to reduce falls and related injuries in older people by transforming homes into safer environments. This can have a profound impact on the sense of well-being and independence in daily life by alleviating the fear of falls at home and increasing mobility, which is one of the major pillars of healthy ageing. We will deliver this through a holistic design approach in developing novel multi-functional floorings with passive fall prevention, detection and protection in one integrated solution. Various functional demands will be considered including mechanical demands: i) stiff response for walking, providing stability and reducing the risk of falls; ii) compliant under impact, providing passive impact protection reducing the risk of severe injuries; and iii) wheeled object compatibility, reducing fatigue. Sensing demands will be incorporated including: i) passive and non-invasive movement tracking, monitoring the risk of falls; and ii) fall detection, providing fast post-fall emergency response, limiting the severity of fall injuries. We will create design maps to capture the trade-off between different required functionalities by systematic exploration of the whole design space. This design space can then be exploited for multi-functional flooring, aiding designers to provide an optimal solution for a particular care setting. The project involves a multi-disciplinary group of academics in Engineering and Public Health, strong patient and public involvement, and collaboration with PolyFlor and Tarkett, two major manufacturers of commercial floor coverings, and Microchip, a leading provider of touch technology.