Researchers across the country are using Apple’s tablets for applications to engage the elderly.
Tony Marsh and Jack Rejeski, health and exercise-science professors at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, in 2010 helped develop the Mobility Assessment Tool for the iPad.
MAT consists of videos showing animated figures performing daily tasks such as climbing stairs and walking. The videos not only help senior citizens picture themselves doing these tasks, but they offer some insight of their clients’ limitations.
But tests subjects in pilot runs encountered obstacles such as those at the Winter Garden nursing home before they were evaluated on the iPad.
"People not accustomed to a mouse had trouble coordinating the cursor. It took them close to an hour to complete the video and questions," Rejeski said. "We tried the software on a computer with a touch screen, and it cut the time in half."
Marsh said that the iPad tablets have helped older people become more aware of their level of functioning - the first step to rehabilitation.
The pair is testing their iPad software in Canada, Brazil and Colombia as part of a multiyear project funded by the National Institutes of Health to assess the mobility of older adults.
"These devices have an increased potential to aid people preserve their memory," Marsh said. "They can monitor progress and, in a way, back you up."
