In an aging society it is extremely important to develop devices, which can support and aid the elderly in their daily life. This demands means and tools that extend independent living and promote improved health. Thus, the goal of this article is to review the state of the art in the robotic technology for mobility assistive devices for people with mobility disabilities. The important role tha...

This study aims to examine trends in outpatient psychotropic drug use among people with intellectual disabilities in Taiwan. The NHI outpatient medication records between January 1, 1997 and December 31, 2007 for people with intellectual disabilities were analyzed to observe the percent change, prevalence and prescription trends in psychotropic drugs. The overall prevalence of psychotropic medi...

Background: Visual impairment is one of the independent risk factors for falling among the elderly. Functional disabilities caused by vision disorders are the most common problems affecting the quality of life in this population. Therefore, vision self-management program (VSM) may be helpful for patients in reducing impairment and improving the quality of life. Aim: The present study aimed to i...

The Trail Making Test (TMT) is a useful measure of executive dysfunction in elderly subjects. This study aims to investigate the discriminative validity of the oral version of the TMT (OTMT), which can be administered to subjects with visual or motor disabilities, in elderly patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI; n = 30), Alzheimer's disease (AD; n = 30), and healthy controls (HCs; n = 2...

Global projection for elderly persons for the year 2030 is 1 billion with Africa peaking to 1.6 billion from 1.0 billion in 2010. Advanced age is often associated with disabilities thus challenges activities of daily living. In Kenya like other nations, the elderly are often discriminated and excluded from participating in development programs under different circumstances and situations on the...

The percentage of elderly and people with disabilities is increasing; consequently the demand for an independent living is gaining importance. This article focuses on the threefold composition that consists of automation, multimedia and assistive technology components. Based on studies of specific users’ needs and best practice, a design for a demonstrative Slovenian smart home environment is p...

PURPOSE As consensus emerges concerning the need to extend publicly funded home- and community-based services that support the independence of seniors, studies have reported the efficacy and cost effectiveness of assistive technology (AT). This article presents the latest available national AT expenditure and participation trends (1999-2002) for Medicaid 1915(c) waivers, the largest Medicaid ho...

In order to provide dependable healthcare services for the elderly, it is necessary to have a patient-centric system in which service automation dominates through the use of context-awareness. Healthcare service automation has the virtues to overcome the disadvantages arising from the disabilities that are inherent in the elderly population, physically challenged, and those who live in remote a...

OBJECTIVE: to estimate the prevalence of functional disability in basic and instrumental daily activities and associated factors in elderly who live in the urban area of Bagé-RS, Brazil. METHODS: this is a population-based cross-sectional study, conducted in 2008; functional disability was defined by basic and instrumental daily activities, using Katz index and Lawton and Brody scale; Poisson...