ICT Usage by the Eldery Essay Example for Free

ICT Usage by the Eldery Essay In this unit of my coursework I shall be writing about an elderly lady with special needs who is helped with the usage of ICT. The person that Im going to be writing about is Mrs Ann Reynolds, an 87 year old lady suffering from arthritis, she lives alone in her own house that she has being living in for over 40 years, it is located in central Harrow. Due to her suffering of arthritis mobility has being very difficult for her, moreover she increasingly has become deaf in the recent years, however this old bird is still mentally tip top and alert and enjoys listening to the radio, in particular the womens programs. Mrs Reynolds has two siblings and two twin granddaughterss aged 12, who currently live in Southampton Some of her Personal needs include the need to move around the house with ease, something that has become increasingly hard due to her condition of arthritis, also she has the need to control appliances and regulate the heating in her house, with old age comes the reduced ability of regulating the bodies temperature, meaning she has the need for constant heating, moreover she also has the need to feel safe in her house, due to recent brake in she has being scared with memories of the incident and has increasingly grown scared of the outside world trying to get in, furthermore she also has the need to do the shopping, cmon old she may be but she still has to eat, in addition she also has the need to receive her medical care. Socially she has the need to be able to keep in touch with friends and family. CCTV Camera and a TV Mrs Reynolds has a special CCTV camera fitted into her porch, which is connected to the her TV inside which is located inside her living room, this empowers Mrs Reynolds to see who is at her door furthermore she also has the ability to speak to them. The CCTV Camera helps meet Mrs Reynolds needs due to it allowing her to see what or who is outside her front door/porch, it also allows her to speak to them if necessary, this helps meet Mrs Reynolds needs because now she can see who is outside her porch without actually opening the door, this therefore gives Mrs Reynolds the convenience of knowing that she can remain safe and unharmed inside her house. This goes back to the time that she was attacked by a bogus caller, which left quite a scar on poor old Mrs Reynolds, via the usage of CCTV Mrs Reynolds now feels safe inside her house and she feels much more independent. Telecare Mrs Reynolds uses a simple technology called Telecare its enables and empowers her so that she lives more independently in the community. Telecare is the new name given to advanced community alarm services. Community alarms plug into telephones lines and come with a call button (pendant) which can be worn by an individual such as Mrs Reynolds. Furthermore using the call button she in now enabled to call for help from anywhere in the home or garden. How does Telecare work? The Telecare unit is fitted to Mrs Reynolds telephone point and main power supply along with some sensors. Telecare sensors can also monitor where she is in her home and can detect if; * She has stopped moving. * Or if she has fallen. * Whether she has gone outside. * Also when she is in bed or sitting in a chair inside her house. Moreover other sensors fitted in her house -smoke detector and extreme temperature detector in her kitchen. When the call button is pressed or one of the sensors is triggered, its base unit will raise an alert through the service users telephone line to a monitoring and Response centre. In case of an emergency, or when the operator cant contact her at home, the operator will contact a family member, a friends or a neighbour to have them quickly pop round and see if everything is alright and that Mrs Reynolds is safe and healthy. If the operator is unable to contact any of the following above, the operator will alert the emergency services. All together Telecare helps meet Mrs Reynoldss personal needs, due to it ensuring that she remains independent and safe in her house, without fear of any incidents happening, even if god-forbid something does happen, most likely someone will be round to help her in no time. All-in-one remote control Mrs Reynolds uses a universal remote control that enables her to access her TV, DVD, satellite receivers and CCTV that is located in her porch, the remote control is fairly large and very easy to function, it is also easily functioned and the buttons are big and bright so its is easy for Mrs Reynolds to use them, furthermore they are highly sensitive to touch and are colour coordinated for easier use. Moreover the all-in-one remote control helps Mrs Reynolds switch between her different functions, for example if she is watching her favourite soap on BBC1 and gets a door knock, she can switch from AV1 to AV2 using the universal remote control, which means she can switch from TV on AV1 to her CCTV camera on AV2, which in response permits her to see and possible speak to whom it may be at the door. Furthermore the large universal all-in-one remote control helps meet Mrs Reynolds personal needs, because of its large shape it is easy for Mrs Reynolds to hold it in her hand and she is unlikely to misplace and loose it, moreover the large touch sensitive buttons, make life easier for Mrs Reynolds allowing.