Kids being raised by the internet.

Though im loathe to repeat a story from our sensational newspapers today, I will anyway (and from that paragon of responsible journalistic integrity the Daily Mail too!).

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=542968&in_page_id=1766&ito=1490

 20 hours a week at the computer? I think thats probably better than 20 hours a week in front of the television. At least with social networking sites there is a degree of social interaction occurring rather than zombiefication in front of the latest “dancing celebrities making over an airport departure gate” bbc show.

Facebook: IM

As much as I hate pushing my last post down the page a bit, I’ve been searching for news to do with social networking which hasn’t been reported by BBC.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/digitalcontent/2008/03/facebook_gets_private_and_laun.html

The Guardian reports that Facebook will soon be launching its own Instant Messaging service which will be available to users quite soon. Given the current news stories circulating about the privacy of information people post on their profile pages, which have resulted in them losing their jobs and more, an IM service does appear beneficial. However, it is still difficult to say this is anymore secure as the friends you have via social networking may not be the people you believe.

Bebo acquired by AOL - $850m (£417m) in cash

Social networking site Bebo has today been acquired by Time Warner’s AOL division.   The price paid is in stark contrast to that paid by Microsoft for 1.6 % ownership of Facebook last year at a cost of $240m.

According to the BBC News “Bebo is the biggest social networking website in Britain, the Irish Republic and New Zeland”.

 For the full article go to BBC online

List of Dementia Assistative Technology Research Currently Taking Place

I found this list on the AT Dementia webpage. May be useful to see what research is taking place right now.

List of Research

Phorm

Not necessarily related to any material posted so far on this blog but I’ve found it slightly interested none the less. I watched an interview yesterday on ‘Working Lunch’ on BBC with one of the people from the company behind ‘Phorm’. For anyone clueless about what it involves, take a look at this article on the BBC website.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7291637.stm

Personally I don’t have to worry about choosing to opt out of this given I’m with The Hoff over at Pipex.

As a consumer it needs to be clear about how people can opt out of this as not everyone is comfortable with their browsing habits being closely watched so it contributes to targeted advertising for them. So what do yous think about this for those of you using BT, Virgin or Talk Talk for your broadband connection?

Working Lunch: Tuesday’s Program

Dementia: A business model approach

“Dementia is defined as the loss of mental processing ability, including communication, abstract thinking, judgment and physical abilities, such that it interferes with daily living.”

(http://www.about-dementia.com)

Figures published by NISRA in 2003 indicate there are over 270,000 people of pensionable age (60+ females, 65+ males) here in Northern Ireland.

(However, Andy notes in his post in 2005 there were 236,300 people aged over 65 in Northern Ireland. Quite a significant decrease)

In Andrew’s post he identified what percentage of these people suffer from dementia as well as what forms of technology are currently available or being developed to help facilitate these people to place less pressure on the health board. I’ll focus on which business models pose most relevance in relation to attempting to integrate the technology developed by COGKNOW into the homes of people that require it. Firstly, in order to make COGKNOW a success in terms of having many if not all dementia suffers utilize the technology upon release, a greater level of awareness needs to be directed at the impact this disease has on peoples lives whether it be directly or indirectly.

After a little searching, I came across some information published by ‘London South Bank University’ which will help us relate how the EHSSB could attempt to roll out technology developed by COGKNOW into Northern Ireland once it has been certified for retail.

Looking at the first business model, it is rather generic in terms of it involving the markets to which a business operates in, what methods it uses to operate and finally the operate of capital it generates or is funded by. Taking into consideration the roll out of the technology developed by COGKNOW into Northern Ireland, the market would potentially be the percentage of how many of the 236,300 people who are aged over 65 that may eventually suffer from dementia. The calculation performed by Andy indicates that there are roughly 2000 dementia suffers here in Northern Ireland which sounds quite low until you remember Northern Ireland only has a population of roughly 1.7 million according to the most recent statistics.

Below is the presentation I found which details business models relevant to the health service.

Tele-medicine an introduction

For an indepth information on how the dicipline of telemedicine can be applied, the following link to the telemedicine practical quide is invaluable.

http://www.telemedicine-europe.net/fileadmin/TELEMEDICINE/Documents/outputs/Pratical_20Guide_20Telemedicine_20Inhoud.pdf

Threats and weaknesses of Cogknow

Their are many issues that need to be addressed with the increase in dementia sufferers. Most of these are linked to our aging population. In the future the amount of elderly citizens will be out of proportion to the amount of people within the working age, this will mean a greater tax burden on society to fund care for suffers. It is important to realise a balance between our societies social conscience and the budget set aside to care for the elderly. The provision of care to dementia sufferers will become a hotly debated political agenda. For example is it more feasible to provide care in specialised units and should future sufferers be removed from their homes and placed in these units instead of providing one to one solutions?

Risks that specifically relate to the Cogknow project in the initial phases include.

Lack of care provider/physician buy in: These groups will have to be involved from the start to the finish of the development phase so that they will support the direction of the project. when the project is realised they will be the main proponents of the product.

Training: A great deal of the concept is based on technologies that will be out of a dementia sufferers scope. Care providers will need to be trained to high standard to provide the best benefits. Also specialist technical expertise will need to be made available along with support groups.

Face to Face contact: the cogknow project is there to complement the care given by care providers, under no circumstances should it be used to replace it. Unfortunately budget restraints may aim to do this, this has to be denied at every level. 

Opportunities and benefits of the COGKNOW project

One of the most distressing aspects of the onset of mild dementia is the loss of independence. Once fully functioning members of society, sufferers are fully aware of their advancing debilitation. The COGKNOW project seeks to address this. As  described in previous posts the Cogknow concept seeks to address the unmet needs of dementia sufferers. These needs were identified as memory problems, communication, physiological distress and lack of information. The needs were gathered by involving world-class medical and clinical experts in the fields addressing dementia.

The outcome will be that these needs will be addressed and the following benefits will be experienced

• The aids will help sufferers remember: the aids prompt users to take medicine, remember social events and even prepare food
• Offers enhanced social contact: the aids make keeping in contact more accessible and puts the user back in control of their social lives
• Daily life activities will be aided: the aids prompt user to preform activities that they used to do to relax or entertain themselves, such as peruse photos or listen to the radio.
• Aids will provide an enhanced feeling of security. Sensors will remind suffers to close and lock doors so that they don’t become anxious about their personal safety.

 The greatest benefit to sufferers of dementia is that these aids will offer an enhanced standard of living. The elderly person will experience greater autonomy and will feel empowered.

Opportunities

At present the target market is fixed at the countries that are taking part in the trials, the greatest opportunity is the worldwide market. At present, whilst there are many cognitive prosthetic products available none specifically target mild dementia

With the population in all developed countries becoming older there will be an increased market size for products of this nature.

Once the concept is a reality, the benefits of computer aided living will become beneficial to non dementia suffers, many of the Cogknow concepts would have applications in everyday life

Eastern Health and Social Care Trust

In Northern Ireland, 16,000 people have a diagnosis of dementia. (Dementia UK Report. 2007).

The Eastern Health and Social Services Board (EHSSB) is Northern Ireland’s largest Board - including Ards, Belfast, Castlereagh, Down, Lisburn andNorth Down District councils, and has responsibility for the care of approximately 665,000 people who live within its area.

The population in the EHSSB is ageing. Almost 20% of the population is over 60. This pattern is similar to what is happening elsewhere in the Western world. The ageing population is a direct result of improved social, economic and living conditions as well as improvements in health and social care. The population in the EHSSB is expected to grow rapidly by the year 2010, particularly in the age groups 80 - and over.

The graph above illustrates the age structure of the population over 60 in the EHSSB area and the six District Councils. In total, the proportion of the population in the EHSSB area is 19 %, in Ards 18.7 %, in Belfast 19.7 %, in Castlereagh 21.2 %, in Down 17.0 %, in Lisburn 16.0 % and in North Down 21.0 %.

The older population in Northern Ireland, as well as the EHSSB area, is expected to grow rapidly over the next few years. The graph below illustrates the year 2010, which is the year preceding the next Census, and show that the population over 60 in the EHSSB area will grow somewhat, particularly in the age groups 80 and over.

Currently, the Eastern Health and Social Services Board spends 24% of its budget on older people’s services, however, if the usage of acute services were to be taken into account this percentage would more than double.