MEMORY-ASSIST DEVICE TO IMPROVE PRESCRIPTION COMPLIANCE

THE EVER-INCREASING PERCENTAGE OF THE U.S. POPULATION 65 YEARS OLD OR OVER PRESENTS A SPECIAL PROBLEM TO PHYSICIANS AND PHARMACISTS: HOW TO ENSURE THAT ELDERLY PEOPLE, WHO MAY SUFFER FROM MEMORY IMPAIRMENTS, WILL COMPLY WITH A MEDICATION REGIMEN. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A MINIATURE COMPUTER DEVICE THAT WILL SIGNAL A VARIETY OF ALARMS AT PRESCRIBED TIMES, SIMULTANEOUSLY DISPLAYING CONCISE AND EASY-TO-UNDERSTAND INSTRUCTIONS ON THE QUANTITY AND TYPE OF MEDICATION TO BE TAKEN BY ITS OWNER. A PHYSICIAN OR PHARMACIST CAN USE ANY OF SEVERAL COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE PERSONAL COMPUTERS TO STORE A PRESCRIPTION SCHEDULE IN THE MINIATURE DEVICE. THE PROPOSED DEVICE WILL BE SMALL ENOUGH FOR AN ELDERLY PERSON TO WEAR COMFORTABLY AROUND THE WRIST. SPECIFIC AIMS IN PHASE I INCLUDE: DESIGN AND CODING OF THE CONTROL SOFTWARE, SIMULATION OF THE DEVICE IN SOFTWARE, DESIGN OF THE HARDWARE, PROTOTYPING THE HARDWARE, INTEGRATION OF HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE, AND DESIGN OF A PHASE II PROOF-OF-CONCEPT AND EVALUATION PROGRAM.