Ageing and
Assisted Living
Working in partnership to improve lives
17 September 2013
Welcome and introduction
Professor Graham Underwood
Executive Dean, Faculty of Science and Health
Why Ageing and Assisted Living?
•
The UK population is ageing: 10 million people over 65 years old, rising to 15.5
million in 20 years
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An increase in numbers suffering from chronic conditions
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Increased pressure on health and social care services
•
Assistive technology will play an increasing role in providing care to ageing and
disabled populations
University of Essex – excellence in research, committed to
Ageing and Assisted living
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We are a ‘top 10’ research University (RAE 2008)
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Professor Gill Green is Director of £5M NIHR Research Design Service (EoE)
•
Ageing and Assisted Living - a key theme for our 50th anniversary
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Over 50 staff involved in A&AL-related research
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£Ms of state-of the-art facilities
Working in partnership
• We work closely with the NHS, social care, charities, service users,
Government and industry
• Our research funders include:
Our focus: assisted living not assistive technologies
We co-create research
from low tech ideas.....
•
Samantha Head and Faith Gage,
physiotherapists at Colchester General
Hospital, are working with academics
from Essex.
•
Their research is to investigate whether
addition of a Pilates class to standard
physiotherapy care can improve
outcomes for women with urinary
incontinence.
… to high tech solutions
•
Professor Ray Meddis and researchers in our
Department of Psychology have developed the
BioAid hearing app
•
The mobile app turns an iPhone into a hearing aid
•
It is the most downloaded medical app in some
countries, with over 17,000 downloads in the first
three months
•
www.bioaid.org.uk
Working in partnership to improve lives
‘The first test will be to listen for the singing of spring birds.
I have not heard them for many years and really miss these
sounds...
WHAT AN IMPROVEMENT IN HEARING! The sound of birds
singing in the morning is wonderful to hear again.’ Bruce, USA
‘BioAid enabled me to ... thoroughly enjoy Easter lunch with my
family and hear every conversation and domestic sound for the
first time in 30 or more years, absolute bliss!’ Anon user, UK
Today’s event
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Share with you some existing research - and new ideas we’re working on
•
Listen to your issues and insights
•
Learn from our keynote speakers
•
Develop existing partnerships and create new ones – new research projects,
attract funding, student volunteers and student placements
Ageing and Assisted Living
at the University of Essex
Professor Gill Green
Academic Lead, Ageing and Assisted Living Network,
Director of NIHR Research Design Service (EoE)
www.essex.ac.uk/aal
Ageing and Assisted Living Research in the
Faculty of Science and Health
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A wide range of relevant research and expertise across the Faculty
•
Research supported by state-of-the-art facilities – from the Human Performance
Unit to our Brain Research Centre
•
Created network to develop ongoing and new cross-disciplinary collaborations
•
Ageing and Assisted Living a key research theme for Essex’s 50th anniversary
Faculty of Science and Health –
Ageing and Assisted Living Theme
Age-related Disease: Cause, Cure, Care
Assisted Living
Lifelong Health and Healthy Ageing
Age-related disease theme:
Development of new inhibitors to neurodegenerative diseases
Jody Mason and Neil Kad (Biological Sciences)
•
Alzheimer's disease is a progressive, degenerative
disease of the brain.
•
One of the hallmarks of the disease is the accumulation
of amyloid proteins into plaques between nerve cells in
the brain, which is thought to contribute to nerve cell
damage.
•
Currently no drug therapies exist to control the
formation of these amyloid plaques.
•
Researchers at our University aim to combat this
problem by designing, screening and selecting peptide
drugs that can slow down, or even prevent, this process
from occurring.
•
This research could lead to a more effective treatment
for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative
diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease.
Assisted living theme:
The intelligent wheelchair “Robochair”
– multi-stakeholder group
Gill Green (HHS) and Huosheng Hu (CSEE)
•
•
The concept of an intelligent, highly versatile
RoboChair has been developed by Professor
Huosheng Hu and his Robotics Research Group.
RoboChair has the potential to transform the lives
of people with severe mobility problems.
•
Funding from the Colchester Catalyst Charity will
support an initial ‘multi- stakeholder development
group’ to help make sure the RoboChair prototype
meets the requirements of end users as effectively
as possible.
Using the Nintendo Wii to improve balance and quality-of-life
in recurrent elderly fallers
Matt Taylor and Murray Griffin (Biological
Sciences), Teshk Shawis and Rebecca
Impson (Colchester Hospital University NHS
Trust)
•
Falls can lead to debilitating physical and
psychological effects.
•
Our researchers have evaluated use of the
Nintendo Wii as a potential adjunct to standard
NHS falls training.
•
Initial findings suggested that improvements were
greater when using the Wii compared to
traditional training.
•
Researchers are now carrying out a small
random control trial using pre- and postintervention measures to evaluate the utility of
the Wii as a rehabilitation tool.
Pilot Projects
Our Faculty of Science and Health Seedcorn Fund is supporting four new collaborative
Ageing and Assisted Living pilot projects:
•
Use of precision tinted lenses by migraine patients to assist in prevention of headache,
photophobia and functional disability
Arnold Wilkins, Sheina Orbell (Psychology) and Jonathan Scales (Health and Human
Sciences
•
A preliminary exploration of the possibility of reducing tremors in Parkinson’s disease
patients via entrainment and brain computer interfaces
Riccardo Poli, Francisco Sepulveda (CSEE), Debi Roberson (Psychology)
and Suffolk Working Age Parkinson’s Group (SWAP)
•
Emotional speech perception in healthy ageing individuals
Silke Paulmann, Riccardo Russo (Psychology) and Philip Hofmeister (Language and
Linguistics)
•
Developing a tool to evaluate interactive music sessions for people suffering from
dementia
Murray Griffin (Biological Sciences), Louise Marsland (HHS)
and Trudy White (Live Music Now)
Partners
•
The Ageing and Assisted Living Network has key partnerships with external
organisations
•
We will continue to build new links and partnerships to increase the impact of our
research.
•
We work closely with the University’s Research and Enterprise Office (REO) to
encourage collaboration and involvement from industry, the NHS, voluntary groups and
charities.
•
We have links with a range of user groups as their input at the earliest stage of the
research cycle is key.