A TELEPHONE-LINKED COMPUTER SYSTEM FOR ELDER CARE

THE TELEPHONE-LINKED COMPUTER (TLC) SYSTEM HAS BEEN DEVELOPED AND TESTED TO CONVERSE AUTOMATICALLY BY TELEPHONE,USING COMPUTER-GENERATED SPEECH, WITH INDIVIDUALS IN ORDER TO MONITOR THEIR HEALTH STATUS, REPORT THE FINDINGS TO THEIRPROVIDERS OF CARE, AND GIVE THE PATIENTS INFORMATION AND FEEDBACK THAT REINFORCE DESIRABLE SELF-CARE ACTIVITIES. THELONG-TERM OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A COMMERCIALLY MARKETABLE VERSION OF THE TLC SOFTWARE TO HELP MAINTAIN THE HEALTH AND FUNCTIONAL STATUS OF OLDER PEOPLE INTHE COMMUNITY. THE SPECIFIC AIMS ARE TO (1) TRANSFER THE EXISTING SOFTWARE TO MICROCOMPUTER HARDWARE TO REDUCE PRODUCT COSTS, (2) TEST AND PLAN THE REFINEMENT OF THE INTERFACE BETWEEN THE TLC SYSTEM AND THE ELDERLY INDIVIDUAL,(3) ASSESS THE HEALTH AND RELATED NEEDS OF THE ELDERLY AND CURRENT INTERVENTIONS THAT ADDRESS THESE NEEDS IN ORDER TO PLAN THE CONTENT OF THE PRODUCT AND SITES THAT MIGHT BE SERVED BY THE PRODUCT. THE TLC SYSTEM FOR ELDER CARE WILL BE DESIGNED TO AUTOMATE PROVEN NON-TECHNOLOGICAL, LABOR-INTENSIVE INTERVENTIONS FOR A FRACTION OF THE COST (IN THE ORDER OF $20 PER PERSON PER YEAR).