To help reach the goals of the AIP program, TigerPlace (named after the University of Missouri mascot, the tiger) was designed by MU faculty working with the Americare Corporation. TigerPlace is a specially-designed, elder housing project that was initiated by the MU Sinclair School of Nursing. It is built to nursing home standards, but not the typical configuration; it has 54 private apartments with fully accessible bathrooms, kitchens, and screened porches. A major objective was to design and implement exciting research, education, and practice opportunities at TigerPlace while integrating TigerPlace into the MU campus and the Columbia community. The links with MU are important as seniors become involved in the student learning projects and take advantage of classes and cultural activities of their interest at MU. The key research in progress is the development and testing of technology to enhance aging in place that will someday be used in homes of elders throughout the country.
Written By: Rantz, M.J., Marek, K.D., Aud, M.A., Tyrer, H.W., Skubic, M., Demiris, G., & Hussam, A.A.
This is an account of an active collaboration between Computer Engineering, Health Informatics, and Nursing within an academic health science center to improve the quality of life of older adults as they “age in place.” The Sinclair School of...
Read MoreWritten By: Alexander, G., Rantz, M., Flesner, M., Diekemper, M., & Siem, C.
This article presents qualitative results collected 6 months after implementation of a clinical information system in four nursing homes in the Midwestern USA. Researchers explored initial implementation strategies, discussed employee experiences, and analyzed employee satisfaction. Transcript-based analysis and axial...
Read MoreWritten By: Demiris G., Parker Oliver D., Dickey G., Skubic M., & Rantz M.
The aim of this paper is to present a participatory evaluation of an actual “smart home” project implemented in an independent retirement facility. Using the participatory evaluation process, residents guided the research team through development and implementation of the...
Read MoreWritten By: Rantz, M.J., Aud, M.A., Alexander, G., Wakefield, B.J., Skubic, M., Luke, R.H., Anderson, D., & Keller, J.M.
Falls are a critical health problem for older adults. One in every 3 people ages 65 or older falls each year, making falls the most common cause of trauma-related injuries and hospitalizations in older adults and the leading cause...
Read MoreWritten By: Demiris, G., Parker-Oliver, D., Hensel, B.K., Dickey, G., Rantz, M., & Skubic, M.
The objective of this study was to explore the role of videophone technology in enhancing the distant caregiving experience of and communication between residents of a long-term care facility and their family members. Ten participants – 4 residents of...
Read MoreWritten By: Alexander, G.L., Rantz, M., Skubic, M., Aud, M.A., Wakefield, B., Florea, E., & Paul, A.
This article provides results of an expert review of data displays for a sensor system used to monitor functional abilities in older adults. The research took place at TigerPlace, an assisted living facility where the sensor system is currently...
Read MoreWritten By: Rantz, M.J., Porter, R., Cheshier, D., Otto, D., Servey, C.H., Johnson, R.A., Skubic, M., Tyrer, H., He, Z., Demiris, G., Lee, J., Alexander, G., & Taylor, G.
The Aging in Place Project at the University of Missouri (MU) required legislation in 1999 and 2001 to be fully realized. An innovative home health agency was initiated by the Sinclair School of Nursing specifically to help older adults...
Read MoreWritten By: Courtney, K.L., Demiris, G., Rantz, M.J., & Skubic, M.
At present, the vast majority of older adults reside in the community. Though many older adults live in their own homes, increasing numbers are choosing continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs), which range from independent apartments to assisted living and...
Read MoreUniversity of Missouri researchers are using sensors, computers and communication systems, along with supportive health care services to monitor the health of older adults who are living at home. (2009) Press Release @ Medical News Today
Read MoreWritten By: Skubic, M., Alexander, G., Popescu, M., Rantz, M., & Keller, J.
To address an aging population, we have been investigating sensor networks for monitoring older adults in their homes. In this paper, we report ongoing work in which passive sensor networks have been installed in 17 apartments in an aging...
Read MoreWritten By: Anderson, D., Luke, R.H., Keller, J.M., Skubic, M., Rantz, M., & Aud, M.
In this paper, we present a method for recognizing human activity from linguistic summarizations of temporal fuzzy inference curves representing the states of a three-dimensional object called voxel person. A hierarchy of fuzzy logic is used, where the output...
Read MoreWritten By: Demiris, G., Parker-Oliver, D., Giger, J., Skubic, M., & Rantz, M.
This study aims to explore older adults’ privacy considerations for technology based monitoring applications in eldercare that use video systems. It specifically aims to introduce alternative vision based tools and identify whether distorting or “anonymizing” captured images affect older...
Read MoreWritten By: Hensel, B., Demiris, G., Parker Oliver, D., & Rantz, M.
Objective: To explore user perceptions of videophone communication in different long-term care settings by comparing interview transcripts of a study involving residents of a congregate living facility (CLF) and family members with findings of a case study involving a...
Read MoreWritten By: Demiris, G., Rantz, M.J., Aud, M.A., Marek, K.D., Tyrer, H.W., Skubic, M., & Hussam, A.A.
The study aim is to explore the perceptions and expectations of seniors in regard to “smart home” technology installed and operated in their homes with the purpose of improving their quality of life and/or monitoring their health status. Three...
Read MoreWritten By: Rantz, M.J., Skubic, M., Alexander, G., Popescu, M., Aud, M., Koopman, R., & Miller, S.
As in acute care, use of health information technology in long-term care holds promise for increased efficiency, better accuracy, reduced costs, and improved outcomes. A comprehensive electronic health record (EHR), which encompasses all health care measures that clinicians want...
Read MoreWritten By: Havens, T.C., Alexander, G.L., Abbott, C.C., Keller, J.M., Skubic, M. & Rantz, M.
In this paper we describe the development of a novel markerless motion capture system and explore its use in documenting elder exercise routines in a health club. This system uses image contour tracking and swarm intelligence methods to track...
Read MoreWritten By: Barker, Jacob
Marilyn Rantz, a professor at MU’s Sinclair School of Nursing, and Marjorie Skubic, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, lead the university’s interdisciplinary research team. They use inexpensive sensors to monitor residents’ movement and develop programs to analyze...
Read MoreWritten By: Alexander, G.L., Havens, T.C., Rantz, M., Keller, J., & Abbott, C.C.
Human motion analysis provides motion pattern and body pose estimations. This study integrates computer-vision techniques and explores a markerless human motion analysis system. Using human–computer interaction (HCI) methods and goals, researchers use a computer interface to provide feedback about...
Read MoreWritten By: Martin, Emily
MU researchers are developing an EHR system that encompasses standard health assessments and those obtained through new technologies. The goal is to increase efficiency and accuracy, improve patient outcomes and reduce costs for long-term care. (2010) Press Release @...
Read MoreWritten By: Rantz, M.J., Skubic, M., Alexander, G., Aud, M., Wakefield, B., Koopman, R., & Miller, S.
Technology offers potential solutions to the pending crisis of healthcare for older adults, while healthcare workers are in short supply. Technology can enable remote monitoring of individuals and early detection of potential problems, so that early interventions can help...
Read MoreWritten By: Rantz, M.J., Alexander, G., Galambos, C., Flesner, M.K., Vogelsmeier, A., Hicks, L., Scott-Cawiezell, J., Zwygart-Stauffacher, M., & Greenwald, L.
It appears that the implementation and use of a bedside electronic medical record in nursing homes can be a strategy to improve quality of care. Staff like using the bedside electronic medical record and believe it is beneficial. Information...
Read MoreWritten By: Alexander G.L., Rantz M.J., Skubic M., Koopman R., Phillips L., Guevara R.D., & Miller S.
This paper describes the evolution of an early illness warning system used by an interdisciplinary team composed of clinicians and engineers in an independent living facility. The early illness warning system consists of algorithms which analyze resident activity patterns...
Read MoreWritten By: Alexander, G.L., Wakefield, B.J., Rantz, M., Skubic, M., Aud, M., Erdelez, S., & Al Ghenaimi, S.
Background: The effectiveness of clinical information systems to improve nursing and patient outcomes depends on human factors, including system usability, organizational workflow, and user satisfaction. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine to what extent residents, family...
Read MoreWritten By: MU News Bureau
Researchers at the University of Missouri and TigerPlace, an independent living community, have been using motion-sensing technology to monitor changes in residents’ health for several years. Now, researchers have found that two devices commonly used for video gaming and...
Read MoreIn the year since Microsoft launched Kinect for Xbox 360, the controller-free device has been adopted and adapted for a growing number of non-gaming uses, many of them in the healthcare field. (2011) Press Release @ Microsoft
Read MoreWritten By: Rantz, M.J., Skubic, M., Koopman, R.J., Alexander, G., Phillips, L., Musterman, K.I., Back, J.R., Aud, M.A., Galambos, C., Guevara, R.D., & Miller, S.J.
Our team has developed a technological innovation that detects changes in health status that indicate impending acute illness or exacerbation of chronic illness before usual assessment methods or self-reports of illness. We successfully used this information in a 1-year...
Read MoreWritten By: Wang, F., Stone, E. Skubic, M., Keller, J., Abbott, C., & Rantz, M.
In this paper, we propose a webcam-based system for in-home gait assessment of older adults. A methodology has been developed to extract gait parameters including walking speed, step time, and step length from a 3-D voxel reconstruction, which is...
Read MoreWritten By: Rantz, M.J., Skubic, M., Miller, S.J., Galambos, C., Alexander, G., Keller, J., & Popescu, M.
Older adults want to age in place at home. Sensor technology has the potential to help by monitoring individuals’ health status, detecting emergency situations, and notifying health care providers. Researchers at the University of Missouri are investigating the impact...
Read MoreWritten By: Rantz, M.J., Scott, S.D., Miller, S.J., Skubic, M., Phillips, L., Alexander, G., Koopman, R.J., Musterman, K., & Back, J.
Passive sensor networks were deployed in independent living apartments to monitor older adults in their home environments to detect signs of impending illness and alert clinicians so they can intervene and prevent or delay significant changes in health or...
Read MoreWritten By: Rantz, M.J., Skubic, M., Abbott, C., Galambos, C., Pak, Y., Ho, D.K., Stone, E.E., Rui, L., Back, J., & Miller, S.J.
Falls are a major problem in older adults. A continuous, unobtrusive, environmentally mounted (i.e., embedded into the environment and not worn by the individual), in home monitoring system that automatically detects when falls have occurred or when the risk...
Read MoreWritten By: US Department of Housing and Urban Development
Highlights A combination of demographic and economic shifts is creating a large and growing need for affordable and age-appropriate housing opportunities. Most seniors would prefer to age in place; home modifications are critical to this process, but the costs...
Read MoreWritten By: Rantz, M., Banerjee, T.S., Cattoor, E., Scott, S.D., Skubic, M., & Popescu, M.
The purpose of this study was to test the implementation of a fall detection and “rewind” privacy-protecting technique using the Microsoft® Kinect™ to not only detect but prevent falls from occurring in hospitalized patients. Kinect sensors were placed in...
Read MoreWritten By: Krampe, J., Miller, S.J., Echebiri, C., Rantz, M.J., & Skubic, M.
Dance-based therapy has the potential to slow the progression of functional limitations in older adults. The purpose of this study was to explore the feasibility of measuring the impact of dance-based therapy on the nighttime restfulness patterns of older...
Read MoreWritten By: Rantz, M.J. & Skubic, M.
The International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics held its first conference on nursing home research in St Louis, MO, in November 2013. This article provides a summary of the presentations. Rolland, Y., Resnick, B., Katz, P.R., Little, M.O., Ouslander,...
Read MoreWritten By: Wang, Shirley
Researchers test ways to prevent elderly people from injuring themselves at home. Article @ The Wall Street Journal
Read MoreWritten By: Jesslyn Chew
Technological advances have provided medical professionals with many devices and systems to collect and analyze patients’ health information, but many of these technologies do not share data with each other. MU News Bureau
Read MoreWritten By: Stice, Alicia
TigerPlace, which celebrated its 10th anniversary yesterday with an open house, is a unique partnership between Americare and the University of Missouri Sinclair School of Nursing. Columbia Daily Tribune
Read MoreWritten By: Wang, F., Skubic, M., Rantz, M., Yardibi, T., & Cuddihy, P.E.
In this paper, we propose a Pulse-Doppler radar system for in-home gait assessment of older adults. A methodology has been developed to extract gait parameters including walking speed and step time using Doppler radar. The gait parameters have been...
Read MoreWritten By: NIH: NINR
National Institute of Nursing Research (National Institutes of Health) – Because of Nursing Research: Supporting Technologies for Healthy Independent Living
Read MoreWritten By: Stone, E., Skubic, M., Rantz, M.J., Abbott, C., & Miller, S.
A study was conducted to assess how a new metric, average in-home gait speed (AIGS), measured using a low-cost, environmentally mounted, continuous monitoring system, compares to a set of traditional physical performance instruments used for mobility and fall risk...
Read MoreWritten By: Su, B.Y., Ho, K.C., Rantz, M., & Skubic, M.
We propose in this paper the use of Wavelet transform (WT) to detect human falls using a ceiling mounted Doppler range control radar. The radar senses any motions from falls as well as nonfalls due to the Doppler effect....
Read MoreWritten By: Rantz, M., Skubic, M., Popescu, M., Galambos, C., Koopman, R.J., Alexander, G.L., Phillips, L.J., Musterman, K., Back, J., & Miller, S.J.
Environmentally embedded (non-wearable) sensor technology is in continuous use in elder housing to monitor a new set of “vital signs” that continuously measure the functional status of older adults, detect potential changes in health or functional status, and alert...
Read MoreWritten By: Skubic, M., Guevara, R., & Rantz, M.
We present an example of unobtrusive, continuous monitoring in the home for the purpose of assessing early health changes. Sensors embedded in the environment capture behavior and activity patterns. Changes in patterns are detected as potential signs of changing...
Read MoreWritten By: Alexander, G.L., Rantz, M., Galambos, C. Vogelsmeier, A., Flesner, M., Popejoy, L.L., Mueller, J., Shumate, S., & Elvin, M.
Objective: Our purpose was to describe how we prepared 16 nursing homes (NHs) for health information exchange (HIE) implementation. Background: NH HIE connecting internal and external stakeholders are in their infancy. U.S. initiatives are demonstrating HIE use to increase...
Read MoreWritten By: Tramer, Harriet
Listen to Marilyn Rantz’s interview on Harriet Tramer’s May 2015 show. Host Harriet Tramer has long worked as both a journalist and a college instructor. And her experiences have taught her that these two professions definitely share one thing in...
Read MoreWritten By: Howard, Jim (KSMU Ozarks Public Radio)
Technology is extending the amount of time aging Americans can live in the familiar surroundings of their own home, rather than be placed in a care facility. Marjorie Skubic, director of the University of Missouri’s Center for Eldercare and...
Read MoreWritten By: Chew, Jesslyn
For more than 10 years, two University of Missouri researchers have researched and developed technology to help people age in place safely and independently. The research started at TigerPlace, an independent housing facility in Columbia, which was developed by...
Read MoreWritten By: Rantz, M., Skubic, M., Abbott, C., Galambos, C., Popescu, M., Keller, J., Stone, E., Back, J., Miller, S.J., & Petroski, G.F.
Falls are a major problem for the elderly leading to injury, disability, and even death. An unobtrusive, in-home sensor system that continuously monitors older adults for fall risk and detects falls could revolutionize fall prevention and care. A fall...
Read MoreWritten By: Lane, K., Rantz, M., Rawn, C., & Bien, A.
Hearing loss, the partial or total inability to perceive sound (Bance, 2007), is the third leading chronic illness in older adults, exceeded only by hypertension and arthritis (Hannula, 2011). In nursing homes, the prevalence of hearing loss is staggering, with reports...
Read MoreWritten By: Pepper, Paul
Paul Pepper: Boone County Museum 25th Anniversary & Sinclair School of Nursing, “Sinclair At Home” Paul Pepper | July 6, 2015 Paul Pepper and Chris Campbell talk about the upcoming 25th anniversary celebration of the Walters-Boone County Museum and...
Read MoreWritten By: ASC Video Production
Foresight – Health Risk Detection System – presented at the 2015 Innovation & Entrepreneurial Recognition Dinner at the University of Missouri. Click here for the video – ASC Video Production
Read MoreWritten By: Rantz, M.J., Lane, K.R., Phillips, L.J., Despins, L.A., Galambos, C., Alexander, G.L., Koopman, R.J., Skubic, M., & Miller, S.J.
When planning the Aging in Place Initiative at TigerPlace, it was envisioned that advances in technology research had the potential to enable early intervention in health changes that could assist in proactive management of health for older adults and...
Read MoreWritten By: Liu, L., Popescu, M., Skubic, M., Rantz, M., & Cuddihy, P.
One in three elders over the age of 65 falls each year in the United States. This paper describes a non-invasive fall detection system based on a Doppler radar sensor. The developed system has been tested in two environments:...
Read MoreWritten By: Phillips, L. J., Deroche, C., Rantz, M., Alexander, G. L., Skubic, M., Despins, L., Abbott, C., Harris, B. H., Galambos, C., & Koopman, R.
This study explored using Big Data, totaling 66 terabytes over 10 years, captured from sensor systems installed in independent living apartments to predict falls from pre-fall changes in residents’ Kinect-recorded gait parameters. Over a period of 3 to 48...
Read MoreWritten By: Newland, P., Wagner, J.M., Salter, A., Thomas, F.P., Skubic, M., & Rantz, M.
Gait parameters variability and falls are problems for persons with MS and have not been adequately captured in the home. Our goal was to explore the feasibility and acceptability of monitoring of gait and falls in the homes of...
Read MoreWritten By: Banerjee, T., Yefimova, M., Keller, J., Skubic, M., Woods, D.L., & Rantz, M.
We describe case studies of clinically significant changes in sedentary behavior of older adults captured with a novel computer vision algorithm for depth data. An unobtrusive Microsoft Kinect sensor continuously recorded older adults’ activity in the primary living spaces...
Read MoreWritten By: Rui, L., Chen, S., Ho, K.C., Rantz, M., & Skubic, M.
This paper presents a human walking speed estimation algorithm using a Doppler radar system for in-home passive gait assessment of elderly adults. The Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) has been a common approach to obtain the gait speed estimation. The...
Read MoreWritten By: O’Connor, J.J., Phillips, L.J., Folarinde, B., Alexander, G.L., & Rantz, M.
Falls are a major source of death and disability in older adults; little data, however, are available about the etiology of falls in community-dwelling older adults. Sensor systems installed in independent and assisted living residences of 105 older adults...
Read MoreWritten By: Galambos, C., Back, J., Rantz, M., Jung Sim, J., Skubic, M., & Miller, S.
Aging in place is a preferred and cost-effective living option for older adults. Research indicates that technology can assist with this goal. Information on consumer preferences will help in technology development to assist older adults to age in place....
Read MoreWritten By: Newland, P., Kimutis, A., Salter, A., Flick, L., Thomas, F., Rantz, M., & Skubic, M.
Gait impairment represents one of the most common and disabling symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS). To identify which temporal or spatial parameters of gait could be used as outcome measures in interventional studies of individuals with MS with different...
Read MoreWritten By: Wallace, R., Abbott, C., Gibson-Horn, C., Rantz, M., & Skubic, M
A set of metrics and a methodology were developed to characterize a subject’s ability to ambulate. These metrics use the movement of the subject’s centroid as detected by an inexpensive depth camera system. The centroid is chosen as it...
Read MoreWritten By: Rantz, M., Phillips, L.J., Galambos, C., Lane, K., Alexander, G.L., Despins, L., Koopman, R.J., Skubic, M., Hicks, L., Miller, S., Craver, A., Harris, B., & Deroche, C.B.
Objectives: Measure the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of using sensor data from an environmentally embedded sensor system for early illness recognition. This sensor system has demonstrated in pilot studies to detect changes in function and in chronic diseases or...
Read MoreWritten By: Popescu, M., Craver, A., Phillips, L., Koopman, R., Alexander, G., Despins, L., & Rantz, M.
Early detection of health changes among older adults is the key to maintaining health, independence, and function. Non-wearable sensors such as depth cameras, motion sensors (passive infrared, PIR) and bed sensors (based on ballistocardiography) are able to detect changes...
Read MoreWritten By: Su, B.Y., Ho, K.C., Rantz, M.J., & Skubic, M.
Two popular mounting positions of Doppler radar for human fall detection are in the ceiling center and at the torso level. This paper examines the fall signatures observed by a Doppler radar at the two positions and evaluates their...
Read MoreWritten By: Su, B.Y., Enayati, M., Skubic, M., Despins, L., Keller, J., Popescu, M., Guidoboni, G., & Rantz, M.
We propose a non-wearable hydraulic bed sensor system that is placed underneath the mattress to estimate the relative systolic blood pressure of a subject, which only differs from the actual blood pressure by a scaling and an offset factor....
Read MoreWritten By: WebsEdgeHealth
An Interdisciplinary Approach to Promote Older Adult Health Over twenty years ago, the University of Missouri formed a broad interdisciplinary team to revolutionize older adult care. Over the years, this team consisted of engineering, nursing, and social work researchers,...
Read MoreWritten By: Lane, K.R., Galambos, C., Phillips, L.J., Popejoy, L.L., & Rantz, M.
Handbook of Geriatric Assessment, Fifth Edition is a multidisciplinary text that takes a contemporary approach in line with patient- and family-centered care. With contributions from the foremost experts in the field, it contains the latest information on geriatric assessments...
Read MoreWritten By: Kilgore, Christine
In an innovative senior living community in Columbia, MO, called Tiger-Place, sensor technology that continually monitors the residents and sends alerts when patterns change is helping nurses and other providers prevent falls and detect early signs of illnesses and...
Read MoreWritten By: Jain, A., Popescu, M., Keller, J., Rantz, M., & Markway, B.
Introduction With the increase in the population of older adults around the world, a significant amount of work has been done on in-home sensor technology to aid the elderly age independently. However, due to the large amounts of data...
Read MoreWritten By: Newland, P., Salter, A., Flach, A., Flick, L., Thomas, F., Gulick, E., Rantz, M., & Skubic, M.
Background and Purpose: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive neurological disorder, characterized by exacerbations and remissions, often resulting in disability affecting multiple neurological functions. The purpose of this article was (1) to describe the frequencies of self-reported symptoms in...
Read MoreWritten By: Robinson, E.L., Park, G., Lane, K., Skubic, M., & Rantz, M.
Sensing technologies hold enormous potential for early detection of health changes that can dramatically affect the aging experience. In previous work, we developed a health alert system that captures and analyzes in-home sensor data. The purpose of this research...
Read MoreWritten By: Ward, T., Skubic, M., Rantz, M., & Vorderstrasse, A.
Children, parents, older adults, and caregivers routinely use sensor technology as a source of health information and health monitoring. The purpose of this paper is to describe three exemplars of research that used a human-centered approach to engage participants...
Read MoreWritten By: Mishra, A.K., Skubic, M., Popescu, M., Lane, K., Rantz, M., Despins, L.A., Abbott, C., Keller, J., Robinson, E.L. & Miller, S.
Background: Higher levels of functional health in older adults leads to higher quality of life and improves the ability to age-in-place. Tracking functional health objectively could help clinicians to make decisions for interventions in case of health deterioration. Even...
Read MoreWritten By: Alexander G.L., Harrell, R., Shumate, S., Rothert, M., Vogelsmeier, A., Popejoy, L., Crecelius, C., & Rantz, M.
Texting is ubiquitous with a text frequency of 145 billion/day worldwide. This paper provides partial results of the national demonstration project called the Missouri Quality Improvement Initiative (MOQI). MOQI goals were to reduce avoidable hospitalizations using APRNs to infuse...
Read MoreWritten By: Jahnke, I., Riedel, N., Popescu, M., Skubic, M., & Rantz, M.
Objectives: From the view of everyday practices and the socio-technical coordination lens, we analyzed the gap between creators’ intention and the users’ implementation (mainly nursing staff and social workers) of an alert system in assisted living communities. Methods: Qualitative...
Read MoreWritten By: Mishra, A.K., Skubic, M., Despins, L.A., Popescu, M., Keller, J., Rantz, M., Abbott, C., Enayati, M., Shalini, S., & Miller, S.
Mishra, A.K., Skubic, M., Despins, L.A., Popescu, M., Keller, J., Rantz, M., Abbott, C., Enayati, M., Shalini, S., & Miller, S. (2022). Explainable fall risk prediction in older adults using gait and geriatric assessments. Frontiers Special Issue: Preserving Health:...
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