Living Environments for Healthy Ageing Professor Caroline Scarles - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Living Environments for Healthy Ageing

Professor Caroline Scarles

LEHA Team (TC2): Dr Naomi Klepacz, Dr Michael Humbracht, Ms Suzanne van Even LEHA Team: Professor Derk-Jan Dijk, Professor Payam Barnaghi, Professor Klaus Moessner, Professor Anne Skeldon Industrial strategy funded research

Technical Capacity One and Two

Technical Capacity One – Technological Interventions to Develop In-Home Sensing Solutions

Aim is to identify parameters of the indoor-living and work environments that contribute to mental and physical health and design sensor systems for factors linked to the environment, sleep and their health indicators.

Technical capacity Two – Brining the Outdoors, Indoors Using Immersive Technology

Aim is to understand how to create stimulating, innovative living environments that bring virtual mobility opportunities and multisensory stimulation into care environments.

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• Older people spend a significant amount of time indoors, contributing to physical and mental health

problems.

• Urgent need to address problems linked to loneliness, social disconnection and physical immobility

Themes from Workshops

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» The importance of bringing the outdoors indoors, particularly for older adults with mobility issues. » Use of technology to combat social isolation (loneliness, boredom and fear) and improve emotional wellbeing » Technology to assist physical aspects of healthy ageing » Increase overall quality of life for care home residents with limited mobility by offering them immersive experiences of blue and green spaces in their care home (i.e. a familiar space), » Personalisation and familiarity are key for enhancing engagement with immersive experiences » The importance of developing a LEHA toolkit with a range of technological applications

TC2 - State of the Art

» 1,291 total articles, 23 primary articles identified after selection process

• Focused on 1) virtual reality and 2) multisensory stimulation environment

Research suggests that immersive technologies can have a positive impact on factors associated with healthy ageing:

• Psychological and emotional well-being – virtual nature walks can lead to joy and decease in depression
• Virtual or physical outdoors – experiencing nature images reduces aggression and improves engagement
• Mobility – Virtual travel to nature highly valued, and can lead to increased exercise with VR
• Building and maintain relationships – some evidence for positive effects on carer relationships

» Conclusion: When research directly linked restorative outdoors environments (i.e. a natural blue or a green space) to healthy ageing, positive impact was greater.

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Bringing The Outside Inside

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“This is the first time in 18 months that Charles has come

• ut of his room for something other than a doctors

appointment.”

LEHA situated across a spectrum

Virtual natural environment Physical Outdoors Remember past experiences Having new experiences Individual Community Social isolation Social Interaction

• Participants asked to try both virtual reality and multisensory

stimulation experience

• Research team created content based on participant

involvement workshops (4 residents, 1 HH rep)

• 10 residents took part supported by 3 care staff (all over 70, 5

men and 5 women)

Research Findings

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Three themes emerged from research: » Familiar versus Strange (authenticity)

• Wanted versus unwanted memories
• Personal memory or collective memory (authenticity determined by memory of actual location or general

imagery of nature)

• Social interaction (e.g. memories of social interactions at settings determined authenticity)
• Personal taste (e.g. personal preference determined authenticity)
• Potential memories (new desires to travel to new places and more personal spaces)

» Physical and digital (physical: residential care home, the body, tech material; Digital: visual media and sound)

• Bodily ability to interact with digital/tech material
• Contrast between low-tech media and high-tech (video and sound used normally, was familiar and valued

most)

» Socialisation and social interaction

• Generating social interaction (Importance of new interactions with researchers or sharing experience with
• ther residents/carers)
• Potential for social interaction (experience generated desires/ideas for sharing experience with

family/friends, other residents)

• Feelings of missing out on social interactions