Project Overview

Wearable technology, including smartwatches, are becoming popular for use among older people interested in managing their mobility as part of their health and wellness. The challenge is that many of these devices and the information they generate have not been designed or tested for older people. Another issue is that currently available technology focuses on a narrow set of movement parameters, like number of steps or physical activity intensity, that ignore information about where and how people travel and move in their communities. This information enriches our understanding of a person’s mobility and can be obtained via GPS sensors. Our team has developed innovative technology that incorporates GPS with other movement sensors to securely and comprehensively monitor mobility in older people. This project proposes to build on our major research study involving 1500 older people whose real-world movement activities are being tracked every 4 months for 2 years using our custom wearable technology. In this project, our team will develop new techniques for analysing and integrating the rich movement information gained from the wearable GPS technology in older adults with data from conventional movement sensors. These techniques will be made openly and freely available to other researchers and healthcare providers who want to use this kind of information to impact healthy aging. We will also, in collaboration with our older adult and stakeholder partners, design the tools needed to provide relevant and impactful feedback for older people and their caregivers to better manage their mobility as part of their health.