ANDALUSIAN MINISTRY OF INNOVATION TO CREATE AN INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH CENTRE FOR AGEING-RELATED PROBLEMS AND DEPENDENCE SITUATIONS
25 July 2006 - 26 July 2006
Spain
The Andalusian Ministry of Innovation, Science and Enterprise will set up next year a new international research centre in an effort to offer a solution to current social needs, such as those related to population ageing or dependence situations, stated Francisco Vallejo, Andalusian Minister of Innovation, Science and Enterprise.
The centre, explained Mr Vallejo, named Institute for Well-being, is expected to become an international reference in the field, developing and applying information and communication technologies (ICTs) to improve the people’s health and quality of life.
One of the centre’s priorities is to generate the necessary knowledge to guarantee the greatest degree of independence of individuals who are currently in a dependence situation, due to their age or to a health condition, in all environments (home, workplace, leisure).
To this end, the Institute for Well-being will give support to experimental studies aimed at developing new technology-aided environments and to give functional solutions to specific problems of individuals suffering any type of limitation.
The Andalusian Technology Park (ATP), located in Malaga, and the Technology Park of Health Sciences (TPH), located in Granada, will house the Institute, although a great deal of its activities will be carried out online.
A Multidisciplinary Team
Aleandro Jadad, director of the Centre for Innovation in Global E-Health of the University of Toronto (Canada), will be the head of the Institute, which will be composed of a multidisciplinary team of psychologists, anthropologists, doctors, engineers, and experts in technology and computer sciences, among others. The team will put forward different hypotheses which will in turn be worked out into solutions and improvements, integrating potential users in the design and validation process.
Some of the actions include computing and communication improvements (alternative uses for mobile phones, PDAs, etc.), wireless monitoring devices in telemedicine (pulsioximeters, electrogradiams, etc.), domotic solutions (blinds and curtains, lighting, alarm telecontrol, etc.), or consumer electronics, etc.),ting, alarmsdicine (pulsioximeters hnology, computer sciences will be composed of a multidisciplinary on , among o (hi-fi, home cinema, videogames, etc.).
Special attention will be put in the application of standardized and integrated solutions in one single control device, in an effort to simplify the use of multiple terminals, power sources or software which, in the long run, end up causing problems instead of providing simple solutions to the most needed users, that is, dependent or handicapped individuals.
Homes, workplaces, or hospitals, among others, will benefit from the new Institute's results. Outdoor activities will also be experimented and improved, with the aim, for example, of assessing physical exercise through intelligent environments capable of checking breath, heartbeat, or muscle tone, thus preventing overexhaustion.
The interior of cars will also be subject to experimentation, with the aim of developing new safety systems, such as engine deceleration in medical conditions such as sleep apnea, or blocking the vehicle, making it impossible for the driver the start the engine if s/he exceeds the alcohol legal limit.
A New Profile of Society
Better quality of life and continuous medical and pharmacological breakthrough has allowed that, out of the total population of Andalusia (7.3 million), 1.4 million people are 65+, which means 19.18% of the region’s population, compared to 14.45% five years ago. This growth needs to be taken into account, especially because it does not seem to have reached its peak. According to the Spanish Institute of Statistics, the number of elderly people in Spain (more than 7 million), will reach 12.8 million in the year 2050, which represents 31.2% of the estimated population for that moment.
The centre, explained Mr Vallejo, named Institute for Well-being, is expected to become an international reference in the field, developing and applying information and communication technologies (ICTs) to improve the people’s health and quality of life.
One of the centre’s priorities is to generate the necessary knowledge to guarantee the greatest degree of independence of individuals who are currently in a dependence situation, due to their age or to a health condition, in all environments (home, workplace, leisure).
To this end, the Institute for Well-being will give support to experimental studies aimed at developing new technology-aided environments and to give functional solutions to specific problems of individuals suffering any type of limitation.
The Andalusian Technology Park (ATP), located in Malaga, and the Technology Park of Health Sciences (TPH), located in Granada, will house the Institute, although a great deal of its activities will be carried out online.
A Multidisciplinary Team
Aleandro Jadad, director of the Centre for Innovation in Global E-Health of the University of Toronto (Canada), will be the head of the Institute, which will be composed of a multidisciplinary team of psychologists, anthropologists, doctors, engineers, and experts in technology and computer sciences, among others. The team will put forward different hypotheses which will in turn be worked out into solutions and improvements, integrating potential users in the design and validation process.
Some of the actions include computing and communication improvements (alternative uses for mobile phones, PDAs, etc.), wireless monitoring devices in telemedicine (pulsioximeters, electrogradiams, etc.), domotic solutions (blinds and curtains, lighting, alarm telecontrol, etc.), or consumer electronics, etc.),ting, alarmsdicine (pulsioximeters hnology, computer sciences will be composed of a multidisciplinary on , among o (hi-fi, home cinema, videogames, etc.).
Special attention will be put in the application of standardized and integrated solutions in one single control device, in an effort to simplify the use of multiple terminals, power sources or software which, in the long run, end up causing problems instead of providing simple solutions to the most needed users, that is, dependent or handicapped individuals.
Homes, workplaces, or hospitals, among others, will benefit from the new Institute's results. Outdoor activities will also be experimented and improved, with the aim, for example, of assessing physical exercise through intelligent environments capable of checking breath, heartbeat, or muscle tone, thus preventing overexhaustion.
The interior of cars will also be subject to experimentation, with the aim of developing new safety systems, such as engine deceleration in medical conditions such as sleep apnea, or blocking the vehicle, making it impossible for the driver the start the engine if s/he exceeds the alcohol legal limit.
A New Profile of Society
Better quality of life and continuous medical and pharmacological breakthrough has allowed that, out of the total population of Andalusia (7.3 million), 1.4 million people are 65+, which means 19.18% of the region’s population, compared to 14.45% five years ago. This growth needs to be taken into account, especially because it does not seem to have reached its peak. According to the Spanish Institute of Statistics, the number of elderly people in Spain (more than 7 million), will reach 12.8 million in the year 2050, which represents 31.2% of the estimated population for that moment.