Netcarity is a European project researching and testing technologies which will help older people to improve their wellbeing, independence, safety and health at home.
Participants include academics, technology firms, psychologists, sociolists, carers, designers and regional authorities.
The project is investigating how new and existing technologies can be integrated cost effectively into people’s homes, making them feel more comfortable about remaining in this familiar environment. It is developing and testing a new technology infrastructure for homes, with systems that enhance communication with friends, family and care givers; support everyday living and promote a sense of social inclusion. It will encourage older people to live independently and inspire them to be more socially active. Netcarity’s goal is to turn older peoples’ homes into supportive environments which include them in society and postpone or avoid the expensive and traumatic move into care homes.
What is Netcarity?
Netcarity is a four year, €13 million European project researching and testing technologies which will help older people improve their:
Wellbeing
Independence
Safety
Health
Netcarity is investigating how new and existing technologies can be integrated into people’s homes, making them feel more comfortable about remaining in this familiar environment.
Together, these technologies will:
Enhance communication with friends, family and care givers
Support everyday living
Promote a sense of social inclusion
Netcarity’s vision
Netcarity will encourage older people to live independently and inspire them to be more socially active.
Netcarity’s goal is to turn older peoples’ homes into supportive environments which include them in society and postpone or avoid the expensive and traumatic move into care homes.
Netcarity sees a future where homes retain their conventional look and feel but seamlessly incorporate many technologies, working behind the scenes to provide non-intrusive support.
The Netcarity system
One proposal is that each home will have a central box which controls and integrates data from devices in rooms around the house. The box will coordinate services and information coming into the home, and distribute data to family members, carers and local authorities including:
Intrusion alerts
Mood status of the homeowner
A list of recent visitors
The system could:
Help older people to shop without leaving home
Identify visitors before they are allowed to enter
Recognise dangers such as a fire, or if the user needs help, and immediately alert the nominated contacts
Provide direct and non-intrusive links to medical support
Enable remote monitoring of vital signs and encourage intervention where necessary
Promote a healthy lifestyle through balanced eating, exercise and social interactions
Six Common Myths You Should Know To Protect Your Heart
Dr. Tim Johnson exposed heart disease myths on "Good Morning America" recently.
February is National Heart Month, a time to raise awareness about heart disease, which remains the leading cause of death for American men and women.
Ask yourself if you're taking care of your heart, and do not be fooled by these common myths.
Myth 1
If I exercise and maintain a healthy lifestyle, I will not get heart disease. -- False
Eating healthy and exercising is a great start, but does not guarantee health.
Risk of heart disease increases with several uncontrollable factors: You are more at risk if you are a man, if you are older and if you have a genetic history of diabetes, high cholesterol or high blood pressure.
It is important to follow up with your doctor at least once a year to test your blood pressure and cholesterol levels, even in your 20s.
If you are predisposed to high blood pressure or high cholesterol, you may need to take medication to prevent heart disease.
Myth 2
I won't have to worry about heart disease until I'm much older. -- False
Coronary artery disease can start to develop in our teenage years, and many of the bad habits we develop as young adults persist as we get older.
Children who are obese, have high blood pressure and a family history of heart disease are at higher risk.
Although rare, some children (usually due to genetic differences) can have unusually high cholesterol and thus an increased risk for heart disease.
Myth 3
A little bit of alcohol is good for the heart. -- True
Recent studies show a small amount of alcohol every day, such as one glass of wine or a little bit more, can actually be beneficial for the heart.
There is debate as to what type of alcohol is best. There are benefits associated with red wine, but other types may be beneficial as well.
Too much alcohol can pose problems though. Binge drinking on weekends, for example, can be very damaging to the heart. Alcohol in large amounts has a toxic effect on the heart muscle cells, and can lead to heart failure.
Myth 4
If I have two scrambled eggs for breakfast, I've already exceeded my daily recommended cholesterol intake. -- True.
A typical egg yolk has about 200 to 250 milligrams of cholesterol (of course, there is no cholesterol in egg whites). The recommended daily cholesterol intake, according to the American Heart Association, is 300 milligrams a day.
If you eat two egg yolks for breakfast, you are likely exceeding your daily recommended intake by more than one-third.
Even after eating just one egg yolk in the morning, it's likely you will need to restrict other animal fats from your diet for the rest of the day to keep within recommended levels.
Myth 5
My blood pressure can never be too low. -- False
In general, high blood pressure -- a risk factor for heart disease -- is so persistent that just getting blood pressure to normal levels doesn't happen very often.
For most people, low blood pressure is a healthy thing. However, in rare cases, when a person is ill or on blood-pressure-lowering medication, she can get truly low blood pressure, which can lead to fatigue, fainting and kidney dysfunction.
Myth 6
I'll know I'm having a heart attack because my chest and arm(s) will hurt. -- False
Although 60 percent to 90 percent of heart attacks have the common symptoms (chest pain, arm pain, etc.), 25 percent of heart attacks have either no signs or atypical signs associated with the incident. So-called "silent" heart attacks are more common in diabetics.
On average, about half of women will have traditional chest pain, and the other half show atypical symptoms such as headaches, nausea, fatigue and stomach upset.
Courtesy:ABC News Internet Ventures -http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=4251029&page=1
Sweden has the highest proportion of old people in the world. 1.5 million are age 65+. This is 17.2 percent of the entire population. The number of people age 80+ is 475,000 or 5.2 percent of the population. If the tendency toward low mortality rates persists, the true number of persons age 80+ may turn out to be between 550,000 and 600,000 in 2010.
Life expectancy has increased very fast over the past fifty years. A woman age 65 in Sweden in 2003 had a life expectancy of 20.3 years, while a man had 17. In contrast to the earlier situation, male life expectancy is now rising more rapidly than female. Most of this increase concerns life expectancy after age 50.
One important question related to future care needs is if we get older with improved health or if poor health will increase due to longevity.There are three common theories to describe care needs in relation to health in the population. According to the most optimistic theory-compression of morbidity-the years with poor health will decrease if the number of years in good health increases faster than the total number of years of life. This might be wishful thinking. Still hopeful is the theory of postponed morbidity, which states that the period of poor health will not increase as the mean age for onset of poor health is postponed and life expectancy increases. This is an acceptable prospect. The third alternative, the theory of expanded morbidity is more pessimistic telling us that we will live longer also with poor health. An increasing number of old people with serious health problems will survive due to good medical treatment. Thus, increased life expectancy will give us more years with poor health due to severe diseases like dementia and the need for elder care and medical treatment in old age will continue to increase. Even if we do our best to prevent illness, longevity in itself is a risk factor.
In Sweden, long-term care is a public responsibility and for the most part financed by taxes. The users pay a low fee, on the average 5 to 6 percent of the cost. Everyone, regardless of income should be able to afford elder care. Public expenditure on long-term care for older people is nearly 3 percent of the GDP. As shown in the figure below, it is much higher than in other OECD countries.
To meet the needs of an aging population the Swedish Government and Riksdag (parliament) have decided on a policy for elder care based on home care. There is an ongoing development with a decreasing number of beds in long-term care institutions and increased resources directed to home care. Today, and even more in the future, elder care will be provided by home care. Institutional care will probably be more or less reserved for people with dementia related diseases or other conditions difficult to care for in a private home.
The large majority of Swedes manages their chores and lives independently in old age. Up until age 80, few people need elder care. In 2004, 128,000 persons age 65 and over were provided for by home care. Elder care institutions housed 110,900 people. An illustration of the coverage ratio for home help and institutional care is given in the figure above. It shows clearly how the need for elder care increases with age. The coverage ratio is considerably higher for people age 80 and over than for all people over 65. The ratios are the same for home care and institutional care. Formal long-term care is well developed in Sweden with regard to coverage ratio, content, and quality. Still, informal care, provided by relatives, has an even larger coverage ratio. The figure above also shows diminished utilization of long-term care from 1993 to 2003. This decrease is above all due to stricter assessment of care needs. This also means that old people are more frail and dependant today in terms of physical functioning as well as cognitive capacity when moving to institutional care.
Sweden is different from most other countries with regard to the variety and complexity of needs that can be satisfied by home care.
Home Base Service and Care:
Home help (including domestic chores and personal care)
Home nursing care
Meals on wheels
Technical aids
OT/PT
Day care
Security alarms
Transportation services
Housing adaptations
Snow removal and gardening
Handy-man service
Home help includes a wide range of services, from help with domestic chores to advanced nursing care. For a frail, but fairly healthy old person who lives alone, a security alarm connected to a home help center might be just the right level of support to continue an independent life. Transportation services enable people with disabilities to participate in normal life. Meals on wheels are often combined with other services provided by home help as house cleaning and laundry. Most receivers of home help however have larger needs and get help with personal care and medication. For people with dementia there are day care facilities. There are also facilities for short-term care either for rehabilitation purposes or as relief-care.
There is the possibility to provide home care to people with extensive and complex needs of care around the clock. Of those age 65+ with home care, 3.5 percent (4,500 persons) receive help more than 120 hours per month. The clients receiving home care to such an extent have care needs comparable to people living in nursing homes. For this group, home care means a possibility to age in place in spite of frailty and ill health in old age.
To meet the needs of an aging population traditional long-term care is not enough. We have to develop new strategies and integrate the knowledge on health promotion and prevention. We need to develop methods to support an increasing number of healthy elderly to maintain their functional ability. That is an important challenge!
Centre for Lifelong Learning - Tata Institute of Social Sciences
DIPLOMA IN GERONTOLOGY
The Centre for Lifelong Learning at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai announces a one-year part-time DIPLOMA IN GERONTOLOGY (A Course to Work with Older Adults) that will be conducted from Monday to Friday from 5.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. at TISS. The Course Duration is from June 2008 to April, 2009.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
a) Goals of the Diploma Programme in Gerontology
To prepare learners for interdisciplinary practice with older adults and their families while providing professional leadership in the field of Gerontology.
To generate a trained cadre of functionaries for effective intervention based on a Human Rights perspective for enhancing the 'Quality of Life' of Older Adults
b) Objectives of the Diploma Programme in Gerontology
The Educational Objectives are as follows:
·To offer a comprehensive interdisciplinary 'rights-based' perspective in the field of gerontology
·To inculcate a holistic understanding of the biological, social, political and economic issues involved in working with Older Adults
·To impart the necessary attitudes and skills for making effective interventions in the field of Gerontology
COURSE PARTICIPANTS
a) Eligibility:
Graduate in any discipline. Preference to be given to those with work experience in clinical, social and developmental settings.
All NGO personnel involved with geriatric services in fields such as health, mental health and education; administrators of human service organizations and corporate sector personnel.
The Course will cater to all who intend to branch out or initiate services for the elderly.
The Diploma Programme has an interdisciplinary focus and so it will invite those from medical, legal and financial backgrounds who wish to address issues of elderly and to audit specific subjects in particular.
b) Work and Employment:
Gerontology is a growing and upcoming field thus after graduating the Course participants will be able to:
Engage in direct services
Initiate and sustain programmes and services for Older Adults
Be active members of inter-disciplinary teams working with Older Adults
Supervise and train field functionaries especially paraprofessionals and volunteers
Application of the Course inputs will be possible in all human service organizations: social agencies, medical and educational institutions as well as the whole gamut of initiatives for Older adults ranging from Institutional Care to Day Care Centres, Community-based interventions and Senior Citizens' Associations.
COURSE CONTENT
·Gerontology: A Multidisciplinary Perspective
·Health and Wellbeing I
·Health and Wellbeing II
·Policies, Programmes and Management of Services for Older Adults
·Family Dynamics, Skills and Interventions
·Collective Action, Advocacy and Networking
·Developmental Interventions with Older Adults
·Older Adults with Special Needs
·Ageing and Media
·Training for Human Resource Development
·Creative Arts and Work with Older Adults
·The Professional Self (Non-Credit Compulsory Course: 15 hours)
·Term Paper: Case Study of an Organisation
·Field Practicum (Exposure Visits and Direct Field Work)
In a novel experiment to deal with China's massive elderly population, a businessman has developed a so-called age bank, whereby volunteers care for aging neighbours and then bank the hours for their own care when they grow old.
Traditionally, Chinese families have lived under one roof so younger generations can care for their elders.
However, it is estimated that in 40 years, a third of China's population - about 440 million people - will be over the age of 60, and many may not have relatives to care for them.
The businessman, a former land developer named Feng Kexiong who was himself facing retirement, came up with the idea of having younger volunteers put in time caring for the elderly and then cashing out those hours when they need assistance in their later years.
"In this day and age, all the young people go away to work," Feng told CTV News. "And with so many elderly, this age bank was the way to go."
Sixty-two-year-old Zhao Ji Bing and 34-year-old Ye Fa Que are two volunteers who care for seniors in their Chongqing neighbourhood.
They clean, shop for groceries and purchase medicine, all of which they do for free. However, they log their hours in a database at the local community centre. "The concept," Zhao said, "is we help when we can and later, others will help us in return."
After four years, the bank now has 250 clients and thousands of logged volunteer hours in just a single neighbourhood.
Twenty other cities across China have also opened their own age banks. "Unlike real banks these days, we're not worried about going under," Feng said. "In fact, we're expanding."
South Koreans scientists reported a breakthrough in studies on the genetic secrets behind death, shedding light on the regulatory mechanism of how aging induces massive cell death in living organisms.
In a study published by peer-review journal, Science, a team of researchers led by Pohang University of Science and Technology's (POSTECH) Nam Hong-gil suggested death was a result ensured by genetic programming.
Nam's team demonstrated that a gene, named ORE1 (``oresara1'') regulates aging-induced cell death in arabidopsis leaves by interacting with other genes such as EIN2 and miR164.
Although aging gradually induces massive cell death in higher organisms, such as plants, there has been limited knowledge about the underlying mechanism of the process.
``We provided the scientific evidence to show that aging and death in plants were an inevitable, pre-determined process that is regulated by a system of genetic programming,'' Nam told The Korea Times. ``The discovery could also provide new insight in studies on the genetic mechanism of aging and death in other life forms, including animals and humans,'' he said.
According to the study by Nam's team, the expression of EIN2 increases with leaf aging, which also induces an up-regulation in ORE1 mutant transcript. The elimination of ORE1 in the leaves delayed the aging process by about 20 percent, Nam said.
In younger leaves, the expression of ORE1 was found to be significantly lower, as the gene was negatively regulated by miR164. However, the expression of ORE1 increased with the advancement in age, with the expression of miR164 suppressed by EIN2. The scientist also found that EIN2 still contributes to aging-induced cell death in the absence of ORE1.
The International Institute on Ageing United Nations-Malta
The Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing, adopted in 1982by the World Assembly on Ageing, and endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly in its Resolution 37/51, recommended, inter alia, the promotion of training and research, as well as the exchange of information and knowledge in order to provide an international basis for social policies and action.
In this respect, the Plan recommended that practical training institutes should be promoted and encouraged so that they act as a practical bridge between and among developed and developing countries.
In keeping with the Institute’s training strategy aimed at developing better qualified and trained personnel, and on the basis of the curricula and training materials recommended by the respective Expert Group Meetings, the Institute holds a number of training programmes on an annual basis.These programmes are supported financially by UNFPA.Since its setting up, INIA has organised 93 international training programmes and trained 1835 candidates from 137 countries.
These training programmes are oriented towards persons coming from developing countries who hold positions as policy-makers, planners, programme executives, educators, professionals and para-professionals who work, or intend to work, in the field of ageing or with older persons.Preference in the selection of candidates is given to those who are in a position to pass on the knowledge obtained to others when back in their own country.
The Institute’s training programmes, as also its other activities, should be viewed in the light of the world-wide phenomenon of population ageing.The situation is particularly acute in developing countries where 55 per cent of the world’s older persons live today and where it is projected that this percentage will further rise to 72 per cent by the year 2025.This increase will have major effects on social development, policies and plans, and on the services for older persons.It is precisely due to the lack of appropriately trained personnel that developing countries are least prepared to meet the challenges of the population ageing phenomenon.Through its training programmes, INIA is, in its own way, helping these countries to be better equipped.
Ageing is a multi-disciplinary phenomenon.It is in this regard, that all of INIA’s training programmes, as designed by groups of international experts, though dealing with various aspects of ageing, are inter-disciplinary in content.
Since 1995 INIA has also started conducting training programmes in various countries throughout the world.Each “in situ” training programme is tailored to the respective country’s needs.During the past 13 years, INIA has conducted 56 such programmes in Barbados, Belarus, Federative Republic of Brazil, People’s Republic of China, Egypt, Republic of Ghana, Republic of India, State of Kuwait, Republic of Macedonia, Malaysia, United Mexican States, Republic of Panama, Republic of the Philippines, State of Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Republic of Singapore, Republic of South Africa, Kingdom of Thailand, Tunisian Republic, Republic of Turkey and United Arab Emirates.1792 participants have benefited from these programmes.
INIA’s publications, which include a quarterly gerontological publication BOLD, also serve as another source of information exchange.In its drive for international cooperation, INIA is signatory to collaborative agreements with both United Nations Organisations and International Governmental and non-Governmental Organisations.
INIA also carries outResearch Projects, hosts Expert Group Meetings, and offers Consultancy Services.A Collaborating Network has been set up with the aim of facilitating information exchange.Members can access information from over 59Countries through INIA’s Network Membership.
INIA’s 2009 Training Programmes:
16—27 February
InternationalProgramme in Social Gerontology.
16—27 March
InternationalProgramme in Economic and Financial Aspects of Ageing.
4—15May
InternationalProgramme in Medical Gerontology (Geriatrics).
12—23 October
InternationalProgramme in Policy Formulation,Planning,
Implementation and Monitoring of the Madrid InternAtional Plan of Action on Ageing.
23November—4 December
InternationalProgramme in Demographic Aspects of Population Ageing and its Implications for Socio-Economic Development, Policies and Plans.
October 2009-June2010
International Post-Graduate Diploma in Gerontologyand Geriatrics (European Centre for Gerontology,University of Malta).
Application Procedure
Interested persons and organisations may apply by sending the following:
·Anapplication form which is available through the Institute’s web-site or directly from INIA or from UNFPA representatives and UNDP offices in the applicant’s own country.
·Proof of proficiency in English.
·A letter of recommendation from the Director of the applicant’s place of work.
·A personal letter (giving reasons for attending the programme).
·Copies of relevant certificates.
Completed forms should reach INIA by not later than the closing date indicated for each respective programme.
Programme Fee
The cost for participating in a Programme is US$1,750. This includes full board accommodation, tuition and accident insurance for the period covering the participant’s stay in Malta during the programme. Air travel to and from Malta is NOT included. A registration fee of US$50, should be paid. The cheque will be refunded to the participant concerned while in Malta.
With support from UNFPA and other organisations, a limited number of scholarships are awarded by INIA to leading candidates for the training programmes and the Post-Graduate Diploma.Candidates are, however, encouraged to seek alternative funding in order to enhance their chances of selection.
Interested persons and organisations may apply on line or by sending a completed application form to:
The Director
International Institute on Ageing, United Nations-Malta
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