The labour force in the health services is shrinking, there are more and more old people, and a very high proportion of them are plagued by deteriorating short- and long-term memory.

All this has created a need for computer-based solutions that will enable elderly people to live safely in their own homes, but at the same time, the technology needed to take special care of them is expensive.

This situation formed the backcloth for the EU’s decision a couple of years ago to launch a series of projects to make it simpler for industry to develop new equipment in this field. One of these projects was called Mpower, and its aim was to create a computer platform that could be used for various purposes and meet a wide range of needs among its target group.

Reminder board

What is being tested out in Norway today is a simple communication system based on a computer screen, aimed at elderly people who live at home but whose memory is failing. No keyboard is needed, only a touch on the screen, which displays the sun and the moon to indicate whether it is day or night, while a large clock-face shows the time.

“This is also a system for sharing information”, explains project manager Marius Mikalsen. The families of these patients are often anxious about how it is going with their parents, and this allows both them and the home help to enter messages that will be automatically displayed by the system. On the screen, for example, the elderly person might find “Remember to drink some water”, or “Take the number 52 bus”. Or current messages such as “The home help will be coming at nine o’clock this morning to give you a shower”.

Another useful feature is that family members can also access the system to check whether the elderly person’s appointments have been kept. Has she been to the doctor? Has he remembered to go to the day-care unit today?

“SINTEF has been project manager here, and it is nice to think that what we are now testing in Norway was develop by the University of Cyprus in collaboration with two Spanish companies, and that it runs on a server in Austria,” says Mikalsen.

"These ladies have tested the system and enjoyed the experience. (Credit: SINTEF Technology and Society)"

Source: SINTEF