Wisdom is something which develops with age but it is absolutely hard to digest the fact that the same old people who have been the prime reason for the existence of many have been left abandoned in old age homes under extremely tough conditions.
Bearing the flag of SRISTI we as a team went to these particular old age homes and were keen in observing their problems and come up with possible engineering solutions to help people living over there. We were quite amused to see how they lived in tranquility and happiness despite of the limited luxuries they had to live with.
Children who had accompanied us played an important role in indentifying the existing problems. With their innocence unmatched we were quite taken back on how they were able to find problems which were not visible to engineering students.
As a group primary problems observed by us are listed below.
1. Health and Hygiene 2. Meeting Financial Needs 3. Physical & Emotional Problems
Health and Hygiene
Technological advancement is one side of the coin while on the other the important aspect is letting people stay healthy to take full advantage of the existing technology. Health is something old people tend to ignore and the prime reason is they tend not to pay attention on the same. Common health related issues in old people Low Blood pressure, High Blood Pressure, High Sugar level, Low Sugar level.
So one of the group member had suggested developing a sensor based bracelet or necklace embedded with medicines. Fundamentally when the sensor detects the existence of a fluctuation in the normal or permissible limits of the above mentioned possible diseases the sensor goes off reminding the bearer to have a remedy which is embedded in their band.
Sensor based solutions are expensive and thus taking the cost into consideration, trusting human instincts they can take the medicine which will help them not only to recover but also to cut down unnecessary motion just and kill the excess strain on their legs, Joints etc.
Payment Gateway The old age home with a population of around 110 persons was self reliant in terms of meeting their need of food supplies. However, upon talking with them, it was evident that they were most of the times in short of cash even for meeting their other requirements. They said how they had to rely on generosity of some passerby even to bear the expense of their auto fare for a visit to hospital. The world is still a beautiful place, because there exists people willing to contribute for such social causes. However, many people could not and do not be a part of such organizations because of various reasons like lack of information and time, and sometimes even laziness. We are proposing a platform (android/ web based) that can bridge the gaps between the two entities. People can contribute in terms of Cash, kind and services. In addition to regular services and donation, a quick response alert will be generated on situations like medical emergencies and anybody willing to contribute for the cause can come forward.
Smart Helmet
Something common in all the women there was the concern for the past. One women we went on to discuss her main reason for existing here was the death of her son due to an accident. To let people who have met with accidents get admitted in the hospital in time we have come up with a model which sends out an SOS as soon as the person meets with an accident.
Second visit after finding solutions to get the feedback.
The team went to Kailash Dham old age home to ask for reviews about the solutions they had thought for the problems like lack of funds and lack of access to medicines. They proposed solutions to Arjun singh Rathod, the trustee and manager of the old age home. He seemed to contradict the problems stated by residents of the old age home. So according him the solutions proposed by the team did not have much desirability.
To get a different view on the solutions the team went to a different old age home in Amrapur. This old age home had all the amenities for its residents and there was no problem of lack of funds but the idea of having a wrist band with medicine was appreciated. When the team talked to one of the residents he was happy that the children came to talk to him to hear his grievances because their major problem was that they have no one to talk to. A possible solution to this could be constructing old age homes near parks or schools so that they could interact with children. Another problem was that old people generally forget taking medicines so a new design is proposed with an alarm that would ring whenever medicine has to be taken.
The team also observed very innovation designs for bird nests. They had hung clay pots and plastic cans on trees so that birds could lay eggs in them. So we would like the potters to produce more such nests and increase their market.
