STHA 2016 - Symposium on Technologies for Healthy Aging

As society and technology advance, there is a growing interest in adding intelligence to our living, working, and social environments. Due primarily to the population's aging, the number of individuals unable to live independently in their homes because of cognitive and physical limitations is rising rapidly. Researchers are now beginning to recognize the importance of developing new technologies to assist with health assessment and interventions for these special needs populations.
According to the Secretary of State for Health, the possibilities for using technology to assist people with special needs are "extraordinary".
Although the need for health-assistive technologies is abundant, individuals who are cross-trained in healthcare and in technology design are not. Today's medical program graduates are largely unaware of the assistance that technology can provide and engineers are often blind to the needs of the individuals that can potentially benefit most from the technology. The National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine recognize a need for a closer partnership to span the gap between these disciplines.
Into this gap enters gerontechnology, a field that focuses on the design of technology to understand and support healthy aging. This is a multidisciplinary area that spans computer science and engineering, electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, medicine, publish health, and psychology. Because we are increasingly aware of the aging population and fueled by advances in pervasive computing and machine learning, this field has recently attracted a large number of researchers.
We will provide a forum for researchers, engineers, educators, and students to learn about the field of gerontechnology, share their state-of-the-art research, and brainstorm ideas for curriculum develop and new research collaborations. Our symposium will include a tutorial on smart home and wearable technologies, activity recognition and activity-aware services, clinical applications of technologies, and curriculum design for gerontechnology. The symposium will conclude with a roundtable discussion of future directions for gerontechnology training and research.
This symposium is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and by the Smart Environments Research Center at Washington State University. With funds from these sponsors we will be able to provide registration reimbursement to symposium attendees (a limited number are available).
In addition, individuals who participate in this symposium will have an opportunity to install their own smart home in a box kit free of cost.
Details of the kit will be described at the symposium (seehttp://smarthome.ailab.wsu.edu/ for additional information on the kit).
To register, visit http://www.hicss.org/.
The symposium will cover topics that include:
Pervasive health monitoring and assessment
Mobility and rehabilitation technologies
Engineering health interventions
Engineering compensatory strategies
Exercise and fitness technologies
Assistive technologies and devices
Designing interfaces for older adults
Gerontechnology curriculum development
Gerontechnology curriculum delivery
SWT Leaders:
Diane Cook (Primary Contact)
Washington State University
Email:cook-AT-eecs.wsu.edu
Maureen Schmitter-Edgecombe
Washington State University
Email:schmitter-e-AT-wsu.edu
Aaron Crandall
Washington State University
Email:crandal-AT-wsu.edu