Pages 37-43 37 www.ijntr.org Abstract-Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neuromuscular disease in which muscle strength and motor function decrease with the progress of the disease. As the decreased motor function is associated with poorer communication abilities in ALS patients, supporting methods are needed to enable better communication according to their residual capacity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare features of the "transparent character board" and the "mouth-shape character", which are simple communication methods for patients with ALS and other diseases in which patients have difficulty in speaking or writing. Healthy subjects role-played the patient (the patient's role) and the caregiver (the caregiver`s role). The trials were conducted to express the intention of the patient using Hiragana characters (The Japanese alphabet) to the caregiver using 3 communication aids: a "transparent character board", the "mouth-shape characters" method, and an "electronic character boards" with voice output set as the control. Each trial was recorded with an eye-tracking device worn by the caregiver and a video camera, and the communication process was measured. The transparent character board communication requires the board as a tool. This method can be used for speedy communication if the environment allows the patient and caregiver to spend much time learning the operation process. The mouth-shape character method requires no tools for communication. The ease of the method makes it applicable even when the relationship between the patient and caregiver is not so long.
Many residents of elderly facilities such as dementia group homes and special elderly nursing homes require evacuation with assistance during a fire, and the number of caregivers is often limited. The purpose of this study is to develop an evacuation device that enables evacuation using the stairs for wheelchair users living on the second and higher floors in elderly facilities and welfare facilities with assistance by just one caregiver and without the use of an electric motor. The developed machine was provided with a structure that includes a carriage that supports driving, braking, overall load, and a backrest frame that holds and fixes the wheelchair and is operated by a caregiver. A staircase descent experiment was conducted and the results showed that the total operation time was 92.18 seconds on average, which almost achieved the target time of 90 seconds. The result of a questionnaire survey showed that respondents had positive opinions on the necessity of equipment that can evacuate persons in wheelchairs by descending stairs and some said they need to introduce such equipment into their facilities. The lock of the developed machine was improved, which reduced the wheelchair mounting process time by an average of 9.88 seconds. The total operation time was 49.42 seconds on average, which made it possible for the evacuation time to be conducted in under one minute. Further improvements will be carried out leading to greater practical use.
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