The population is aging rapidly, and smart home technology is developing in parallel. But can current smart home tech, such as Google Home and Amazon Alexa play a role in facilitating Aging in Place?

Join this presentation with Dr. Frank Knoefel, MD, as he will review the elements of a supportive smart home (sensors, collection hubs, cloud computing, and an action) and the current state of the art. A number of aging scenarios will be discussed, for instance mobility and cognitive decline, as well as potential supportive smart home technologies for those cases.

Dr. Knoefel will also discuss public policy and ethical considerations in the supportive smart home space.

More on our presenter:

Dr. Frank Knoefel holds the University of Ottawa Brain & Mind – Bruyère Chair in Primary Health Care Dementia Research and is a physician at the Memory Clinic at Elisabeth-Bruyere Hospital in Ottawa.

He holds appointments in the Department of Family Medicine, University of Ottawa and Systems and Computer Engineering at Carleton University. His research focuses on the use of technology to help older adults to age in place. His work includes: a sensor system to reduce the risk of nighttime wandering in persons living with dementia, extracting information about cognitive ability from game playing, and sensors to monitor mobility and activities of daily living.

He was instrumental in developing the driving and aging research program at the Bruyere Research Institute – including the acquisition of a state of the art driving simulator for the Elisabeth-Bruyere Hospital. As a scientist at AGEWELL Network of Centres of Excellence, he is also the Challenge Lead for Cognitive Health and Dementia. He is the lead author of the recently published book Supportive Smart Homes: Their Role in Aging in Place.

The content will be presented in English, however bilingual participation is encouraged. La présentation se fera en anglais, mais la participation dans les deux langues officielles est encouragée.

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Note: you must be an Association member or guest of a member and registered in order to participate in this seminar. To become a member, please call 613-745-2559. Your registration confirmation with instructions on how to participate via Zoom will arrive by e-mail.

Ottawa Branch Disclaimer: The Ottawa Branch provides information on issues, products and services of general interest to our membership. It does not endorse a particular position or a product or service, as being suitable for individual members, but brings them to the members’ attention so that they can make up their own minds.

If you have any difficulties registering electronically, please email the Ottawa Branch at [email protected] or call 613-737-2199.