An aging-in-place laboratory
The American Association of Retired Persons estimates that 90% of the nation’s quickly growing population of older adults want to live in their own homes for as long as possible.
Enabling independent living requires collaboration among disciplines such as nursing, medicine, architecture, engineering, technological design, social work, mental health services, economics, financial planning, policy, and legal services.
The Cizik Nursing Research Institute’s Smart Apartment is designed for testing aging-in-place technology, programs, and other solutions designed to support independent living for older adults and people living with disabilities.
This fully furnished, one-bedroom home is housed within Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston’s building in the Texas Medical Center. This laboratory is equipped with sensors, monitors, robots, and other devices that researchers use to test technologies that can help monitor self-management of chronic diseases and detect health and behavior changes in aging and disabled adults.
Aging In Place Research Awards
Since the Smart Apartment opened in 2020, seven Aging In Place Research Awards have provided seed funding for pilot research in the Smart Apartment. These grants are supported by the Maria C. and Christopher J. Pappas Family Distinguished Chair in Nursing Endowment (held by Constance Johnson, PhD, RN, FAAN) and the UTHealth Houston Institute on Aging (Aanand Naik, MD, executive director).
Get the details on three currently funded studies underway in the Smart Apartment.
