RESUMO
@#Age is typically affiliated with the decline of cognitive function and the probability to be diagnosed with neurodegenerative disease, namely dementia. Of all dementia-related deficits, the paper highlights on the decline of wayfinding ability, since it is interrelated with mobility, autonomy, caregiving burden and eventually institutionalization. The sense of directions in elderly is also affected by the sensory changes, while the most obvious sensory declines are both vision and hearing. Hence navigation systems that support mainly on visual and auditory may not be the best option for them. A concept of wearable navigational assistance that is non-intrusive and uses haptic stimuli instead of visual and/or audio signals is presented in this paper. A Usability Test (UT) was performed towards the elderly with dementia at a selected nursing home to investigate how they perceive haptic-feedback as a modality of navigation. The assessments involved three phases: (1) orientation or training, (2) navigation test and (3) further navigation test. Results indicate the potential efficacy of haptic modality as a navigation signal. Improvement on subjects’ navigational performance was shown especially during the further navigation test, signifying the familiarization of the intervention. Employing the haptic modality could be a beneficial substitute for navigational purpose when vision and audio are less appropriate. Nevertheless, as much as the encouraging outcomes from the results and analysis of the assessments are valuable, the constructive reviews attained are indeed important for the future development of the device system.
RESUMO
@#An elderly community may continue to serve their services to other jobs after retirement particularly in light works in accordance to their ability which can support the household income in such a challenging world. One of the professions that they could alternatively get involved is by being a taxi driver. Hence, the characteristic of elderly taxi driver is crucial to understand, primarily due to the ageing process which makes them more vulnerable towards injury. Sitting which is the working posture of a taxi driver should be properly done to avoid injuries among the elders. Improper seating posture is potentially unhealthy and considered as one of the major contributing factors for several musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) such as pain in the lower back part and shoulder. Due to increased exposures to seating posture inside the car, the proper sitting adjustment has become an important issue that demands adequate ergonomic interventions. A cross-sectional study was conducted with elderly taxi drivers using a self-administered questionnaire. It included questions on social-demographic data, Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) and Quick Exposure Check (QEC). Purposive method sampling is used according to these inclusive criteria; age 60 years old and above, self-driving taxi more than 1 year, no disabilities and registered with Ministry of Transport (MOT). Total of 443 respondents participated in the study. SPSS software version 20.0 to analyze data and RULA and QEC form was used. More than half elderly taxi driver used budget car (57.6%) type of taxi and most of elderly taxi drivers were smoking (66.0%). More than half respondents (70.0%) having felt back pain for the past 12 months and 75.4% feeling back pain the last seven days. 94.8% elderly taxi drivers complained of feeling low back pain. QEC showed higher score - neck (20.8%) and back body part (6.5%) and other factors at high score - driving (86.4%) and vibration (45.6%). RULA analysis body score at value score 7 (23.5%)- required immediate improvement and value score 5/6 (61.9%) - required investigation and needed to improve soon. Inappropriate seating posture among elderly taxi drivers may cause discomfort towards developing MSD. The implication of low awareness on ergonomics education could reflect quality lifestyle and health among elderly taxi drivers in Malaysia.
RESUMO
@#Drowning is one of 10 leading causes of death in every region of the world especially in the picnic and recreation. Statistics from Fire and Rescue Department showed an average of 700 people drown each year in this country. There were also cases where casualty to rescuers during the Save and Rescue Operation (SAR). As the incidents increased, the task of rescuers and equipment used should be reviewed. Issue How to ease rescuer task and safely lift underwater drown body. Problem Statement Difficulties arise during lifting drown body from underwater to the surface due to certain circumstances. This involved safety to rescuers, process of rescuing and time consuming of the operation. Objective The objective of this study is to determine the efficient ways of lifting drown body based on rescuers preferences. From the results, new stretcher design parameters will be established. Method Thirty rescuers from two Water Rescue Teams namely PPDA Putrajaya and PPDA Shah Alam Branches participated in this study. They are 24 male and 6 female aged between 23 to 51 years with mean of age at 29.5 year and experienced in SAR. Instrument Questionnaires were used to identify factors contributed to success or failure of any SAR operation. Likert scale questions were used to measure their preferences. Data then processed using statistical software (SPSS). Results Findings shows that all respondents agreed that lifting method is the most significant factor affecting their task performance, safety and time consumes. Meanwhile 83.3% of them strongly agreed and 16.7% agreed the usage of proposed floatable stretcher to lift drown body in their future SAR Operations.