The Oregon Roybal Center for Aging and Technology (ORCATECH) is dedicated to supporting a unique organizational infrastructure that facilitates the process of developing, translating and disseminating innovative measurement and interpretation of health and well-being data. Taking advantage of advances in pervasive computing, in-home and community based embedded sensing, wireless communication and data mining technologies, the Center improves the conduct of timely, real world measurement of health and wellbeing through two major resources: 1) A Response Over Internet (ROI) participatory research community cohort; and 2) An expanded ORCATECH Life Laboratory network of volunteers whose community residences are enabled with pervasive computing capabilities for ongoing and future research. These resources are invaluable for collaborative use by independent investigators. Multiple mechanisms further accelerate the Center's process of development, translation and dissemination of evidence-based knowledge including its multidisciplinary, multi-institutional Council composed of academic, community and industry leaders; building new national and international research collaborations; operating as a SBIR/STTR incubator; sharing its large archive of activity and behavioral data; developing ecologically valid measures in clinical trials; and generating new knowledge and approaches through training new investigators via its Data Forum, the Silicon Valley Forum, technology demonstrations, and visiting professor and intern programs. The Pilot Core facilitates creation of needed new knowledge, recruitment of new investigators into the field (paired with established mentors) and facilitation of future, more definitive studies. Drawing on unique ROI and Life Lab resources, six exemplary pilots address a breadth of key topics including technology use preferences of minority seniors in a multimodal wellness program, developing objective wellness algorithms using continuously acquired pervasive health data; technology relevant use and response acceptability characteristics of ROI participants; creating a suite of everyday cognition and function measures; mobility mapping of everyday function; and parsing nighttime activities and behavior's effects on daily function.
ORCATECH is dedicated to facilitating optimal measurement of health and well-being for our aging population through advancing innovative in-home, always-on technologies. These new approaches hold tremendous promise to improve public health by providing highly sensitive, real-time, real-world information for more accurate timely diagnoses and individualized treatment and care.
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