Problem statement: Problems with everyday mobility, such as walking and driving, are common in older adulthood and can negatively impact health and social functioning. Although mobility is a critical indicator of health, older adults are not typically involved in monitoring or assessing their own mobility. In our stakeholder consultations, older adults expressed a clear interest in self-monitoring their mobility as part of their health. However, there are currently no wearable technologies that comprehensively monitor mobility and that are valid for predicting important health outcomes.
Research purpose: This research will use the latest advancements in wearable technology to understand how mobility changes over time in older adulthood, and how this affects important health outcomes. This project will develop a wearable technology tool for mobility self-monitoring by older adults and their caregivers.
Research approach: We will start by customizing a wristband device that can monitor the many ways in which older people move in their home and community. We will then recruit 1,500 older adults to wear the wristbands for 5-day intervals every 3 months for 2 years. Participants will also attend in-person visits and receive phone calls to collect their health information every 3 months. We will use machine learning to analyze the collected data to understand how mobility changes over time and affects health. Finally, we will design, with input from older adults and caregivers, a mobility-self monitoring tool to track and manage older people’s mobility and health.
Anticipated impact: A self-monitoring tool that is both comprehensive, yet sensitive enough to capture subtle changes in a person’s mobility could alert older adults and their caregivers to an impending change in their mobility and health. This technology will be a “game changer” for enabling older adults and their caregivers to self-manage their mobility as part of their health.