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What's New - 2001 Saward Lecture

Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research Invited British Scientist to Discuss How Technology Can Help the Elderly Stay Safely in Their Own Homes

"The 21st Century will be habitable only if technology is used to restore social sustainability"--- Professor Heinz Wolff

(PORTLAND, Ore.) – How we can use technology to help the frail elderly be less isolated and live safely in their own homes was the topic of a free public lecture delivered in Portland on Sept. 25 by Prof. Heinz Wolff.

An emeritus professor of engineering at Brunel University in England, Wolff is renowned in the United Kingdom and in Europe for his work in applying technology to medical care and to medical and space research. Prof. Wolff delivered his remarks, entitled "Love Thy Neighbour (with a little help from technology!)," as part of the 2001 Saward Lecture, presented by Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research.

One consequence of longer lifespans, smaller and less close-knit families, and reduced government social services has been that many frail elderly often live alone in physical and social environments that are neither safe nor supportive.

Prof. Wolff will discuss his experimental "Caring Home" project, which shows how contemporary technology can be used to create safe homes for the elderly and reduce their social isolation. The project uses privacy-protecting sensors that recognize real and impending hazards and interact with the tenant to remove them. If the hazard is too great, the sensor system calls a "supporter," who can enter the home to provide assistance.

The "Caring Home" project, which is funded jointly by government and industry, has two major social objectives. The first is to create a network of trained "supporters" (members of voluntary community organizations), who will know and have social contact with elderly tenants. This is an attempt to create new relationships, which in time may substitute for absent family. The second is to create a culture of community support to serve as a model for assisting others besides the elderly.

Prof. Wolff graduated with first-class honors in physiology and physics from University College, London in 1954. He began his scientific career at the National Institute for Medical Research, and in 1962 founded its Biomedical Engineering Division. In 1971 he founded a Division of Bioengineering at the Clinical Research Centre at Harrow. In 1983 he created the Brunel Institute for Bioengineering at Brunel University, which is financially self-supporting and holds contracts for work in space research, medical instrumentation, and technology.

Since 1975 he has held a number of honorary appointments with the European Space Agency. Until 1991 he was chairman of the Microgravity Advisory Committee, responsible for making policy for the scientific exploration of the low-gravity environment on orbiting spacecraft. In 1992 he was awarded the Edinburgh Medal in recognition of an outstanding contribution to society by a scientist. He is also a Fellow of University College, London, and an honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.

Keenly interested in the scientific and technical education of the young, Prof. Wolff lectures widely to young audiences. He is, in fact, best known by the general public in the United Kingdom as the host of several extremely popular television series -- Young Scientist of the Year, The Great Egg Race (engineering contests for students), and Great Experiments Which Changed the World.

Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research/Northwest and Hawaii, headquartered in Portland, Ore., is a non-profit research institute that conducts research in the public interest in a wide variety of medical and dental health care issues.

For more infomation contact:
Terry Fitzpatrick (503) 335-6602 or

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