The challenge of facing the aging population in companies: proposals from the field of ergonomics
The increasing aging of population in Western societies has a major impact on companies. The challenges that arise have to do with the assessment and adaptation of work positions, managing the abilities and talents of the older population, or the very organization of the labor activity itself.
From ergonomics, different proposals can be put forward to help facilitate age management in companies. Although the main objective is health and wellbeing, an ergonomic approach must also focus on making use of abilities and improving efficiency.
Improving the well-being of the elderly through physiological-response and gaze-recording techniques
The Instituto de Biomecánica (IBV) has determined the influence of the room color on the emotional state of the elderly in a retirement home, as well as on the improvement of their sense of direction and ambulation. Techniques based on the analysis of physiological response and eye tracking were used, which made it possible to obtain information about users in an objective and quantitative manner without interfering with their activities. The results showed the impact of color on the emotional response of the elderly, as well as the usefulness of the IBV techniques to obtain detailed information about emotional and cognitive responses, such as relaxation, stress or sense of direction.
FallSkip: Assessment of the risk of falling in elderly people
The aging of the world population is an obvious reality nowadays. The increase in the population over 65 implies an increase in the number of falls.
According to the WHO, prevention strategies to be adopted by healthcare systems should address the identification of risk factors. In this respect, the Instituto de Biomecánica (IBV), within its line of research on older people, has defined a clinical protocol based on a modification of the Time Up & Go (TUG) test in order to obtain a simple and reliable risk of falling index.
This index is obtained from biomechanical records that make it possible to define a model to classify fall risk. This model is based on gait pattern, balance, muscular power, as well as temporal variables.
Finally, new technological solutions have been developed to apply it in primary care and specialized assistance.
Promotion of healthy aging at home and caring for the caregiver. Collaborative system: Wetakecare
The Instituto de Biomecánica (IBV) has been coordinating the WETAKECARE project (WTC) for three and a half years. The project has produced an interactive and multimodal system focused on the needs of the over-fifties. The know-how of the consortium’s multidisciplinary team (gerontology, social innovation, social work, usability, occupational therapy, development of ICT and engineering) and the active participation throughout the project of potential users of the system have been key to our being able to present a functional, efficient and usable system for seniors and their non-professional caregivers.
The WTC system, intended for persons over 50 years-of-age with a mild to moderate loss of functional capabilities, encourages active aging through the practice of games and the learning of new strategies that allow such individuals to carry out their Activities of Daily Living (ADL) in a more autonomous manner.
BUSCAR / FIND
SOCIAL MEDIA
