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Florida State University researchers are part of a consortium awarded a $14.7 million grant from the National Institute on Aging to promote the well-being, quality of life and independence of older adults and to provide support for older adults. Adults with cognitive impairment.
Funded in early 1999, the Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) aims to help older adults use and understand the benefits of technology to improve daily living. Led by Cornell University’s Weill Medical College, the consortium includes Florida State, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Miami.
Professors of psychology Walter Butt and Neil Charness, along with assistant professor of computer science Shayok Chakraborty, form the FSU division of the team.
Butt and Charness, director of the Successful Longevity Institute, noted that the landscape of aging and technology has changed dramatically over the past four editions of CREATE.
“CREATE’s evolution has been exciting as the center has kept pace with the rapid technological changes we’ve seen over the past 20 years,” Booth said. “Our research questions and technological solutions have changed with the capabilities of emerging technologies.”
Sara Zaja, professor of gerontology at Weill Cornell Medicine and principal investigator of CREATE, said researchers at the four universities understand the role technology can play in helping the elderly.
“Technology is being embraced as a solution to the need for support for the elderly,” Zaja said, adding that “more and more technology products are being marketed to the elderly.”
Given that age is a major risk factor for conditions such as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, CREATE V expanded its target population to include older adults with MCI and included three integrated workplace projects.
Focusing on cognitive health, social participation and prevention of cognitive impairment, the first study looks at how virtual reality technology can be used to improve cognitive and social participation among aging adults.
“CREATE researchers are excited about the potential of virtual reality technology,” said Boot, as the technology is now sufficiently sophisticated and inexpensive to support the implementation and dissemination of immersive interventions to encourage social and cognitive interaction among older adults, including older adults. Adults are prone to social isolation.
The second CREATE V project focuses on supporting adults with MCI by using new technologies to assess further cognitive decline, such as Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias. The research team works with the IBM Watson Research Center to develop a speech analysis software support tool to help the elderly talk. The purpose of the tool will be to help identify changes in cognitive status.
“At FSU’s CREATE site, students will learn about technology system development and help develop user-adaptive technology systems using machine learning and artificial intelligence to facilitate technology interactions, especially for the elderly with cognitive challenges,” Chakraborty said.
A third research project focuses on developing digital assistive tools for cognitively impaired seniors to manage health care tasks, such as enrolling in Medicare/Medicaid.
All three large-scale research projects will be conducted in New York, Florida, and Illinois to collect data on various characteristics of older adults. CREATE V also includes an expanded pilot research program to support new investigators.
“We are pleased to receive support from the National Institute on Aging to develop new technology solutions to help older adults in our community,” Charnes said. “Our goal is to increase safety and social cohesion through well-designed technological solutions.”
The researchers plan to disseminate the CREATE V findings, protocols, and tools to a global audience, including the research, business, and design communities, to promote shared understanding of aging adults and technology interactions.
“Our specific goals are to understand how we can use the power of technology to protect, support and develop the emotional, cognitive and physical health of older adults, ultimately enhancing their independence, safety and quality of life,” Zaja said. Weill Cornell Medicine. “These are complex issues, but very interesting.”
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