Shabnam FakhrHosseini Presents for Workshop on Advancing Diagnostic Excellence for Older Adults
by Adam Felts
AgeLab Research Scientist Shabnam FakhrHosseini was a panelist for a public workshop held by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The workshop, titled Advancing Diagnostic Excellence for Older Adults, examined the current scientific landscape and research opportunities for improving diagnosis in older adults within the U.S. health care system.
Dr. FakrHosseini participated in a panel that focused on future developments in diagnostic tools for older adults. She discussed the widely held desire among older adults to remain in their homes independently as long as they can, and the ensuing needs for new tools and resources to support them at home. Dr. FakhrHosseini highlighted social robots, wearables, artificial intelligence, and the smart home platform as technologies that may play a major role in supporting older adults’ health and wellbeing.
Dr. FakhrHosseini provided a look at some strains of the AgeLab’s research on the use of technology to facilitate care. She highlighted results from a large-scale survey of consumers on the use of artificial intelligence for caregiving applications. She also showed findings from a survey of members of the 85+ Lifestyle Leaders panel, who reported that they would be interested in conversing with a social robot on health-related topics. Finally, she went over a set of principles for designing age-friendly homes that were uncovered through former IDM Master’s student Susy Tort’s research with the AgeLab.