Dr Nick Hine
Home-based telecare
An overwhelming majority of older people would prefer to stay in their own homes rather than move into sheltered or residential accommodation late in life. As those who care about the well-being of specific older people observe them becoming increasing frail or apparently at risk, they become concerned that they will experience a serious event or episode that could cause significant and long-term damage. For this reason, older people may be persuaded to live less risky lives, or to move into more supported dwellings, perhaps against their deeper wishes. The deployment of an appropriate lifestyle monitoring system into the dwelling of an older person might reduce the risk of such a damaging episode by detecting symptomatic changes in the way that the person goes about their daily lives. This type of technology could, therefore, provide a “safety net” to reassure both the older people and those with an informal (friends and relative) or formal (care and medical professionals) interest in their well-being that everything is OK. Such technology, however, raises a variety of ethical questions that will need to be considered if it to be accepted as a legitimate instrument of care.
Nick Hine - biography
Nick has been involved in work considering the appropriate use of technology in promoting the independence and the social and economic integration of people of all ages for 20 years. In 1984 he established a vocational training programme in the use of IT for adults with disabilities to assist them in enhancing their social and economic integration. In 1989 he commenced work on the first of a number of research projects attempting to understand the value of technology as a tool to promote independent living and to ensure that the needs of disabled and older users were taken into account when deploying new communications technologies. The context of the research has embraced children's use of technology for education and leisure, the use of technology by people with speaking difficulties to tell their stories and to engage in social interaction, as well as the use of technology by older people to maintain their quality of life and independence. His academic background in Telecoms Engineering (BSc), Biomedical Engineering with Artificial Intelligence and Psychology (MSc) and Applied Computing (PhD) are all brought into play in the cross disciplinary work.