Ayari & Fujii 1

Assisting the Elderly On the Stairs while

Sustaining Mobility

Rami Ayari & Ryu Fujii

Mrs. Conlin

Engineering Applications - 2nd

18 December 2016
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Elderly people, in homes and apartments all around the world, have a high chance of

getting injured when they climb up and down stairs by themselves. In fact, 30% of people over

age 65 and 50% over age 80 will fall once during the next year (Problems for Elderly). This can

be attributed to the loss of bone density and strength when a person gets older. Our goal is to

lessen the amount of falls that elderly people suffer when ascending or descending stairs in their

places of residence.

This proposal was made to provide an examination around the problem of elderly people

frequently falling on stairs when they attempt to climb up or down them in their place of

residence. The research provided draws attention to the fact that about one third of the elder

population over the age of 65 falls each year, and the risk of falls increases proportionately with

age. At 80 years, over half of seniors fall annually (Learn Not To Fall). Further investigations

revealed that the problem is much more serious than one may think. Falls are the leading cause

of death due to injury among the elderly. 87% of all fractures in the elderly are due to falls. For

the elderly who fall and are unable to get up on their own, the period of time spent immobile

often affects their health outcome. Muscle cell breakdown starts to occur within 30-60 minutes

of compression due to falling. Dehydration, pressure sores, hypothermia, and pneumonia are

other complications that may result (Difficulty Climbing Stairs). The report evaluates the extent

to which this problem affects seniors all around the world, the injuries caused by the problem,

and the reasons behind the problem occurring. Recommendations discussed include: 1. More

awareness among people of the commonality and severity of the problem and 2. A greater sense

of responsibility among people to work towards fixing this problem.

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The success of our solution is dependent on its ability to meet the benchmarks that we set

for it. One of these benchmarks will be the amount of weight our solution will be able to sustain.

The average weight for an elderly person (60+) is around 130 pounds (The Normal Weight).

Thus, our solution should be able to sustain 150 or more pounds. Another benchmark for our

solution is the amount of time it will take a senior to walk up or down steps using the solution.

The solution should allow the average elderly person to walk up or down 5 steps of stairs in 10

seconds or less.

While climbing stairs, it seems as though there is no science involving what the body

experiences, but in fact there are a couple of events occurring to the body and the system around

the body. A physics component surrounding the physical action of climbing stairs is the power

equation, which can be established in the equation P=W/t. Power (Watts) is the rate in which

work is done over time. While climbing the stairs, the use of energy over the amount of time

shows how much energy is used by the body. Another equation which is more related directly to

the momentum on the stairs is the angular momentum equation. Angular momentum increases

when you move farther from the earths center, thus the rate at which kinetic energy also

increases. Angular momentum can be described by the equation 1 2 m 2 r = 1 2 m 2 h

From the sources we tried to contact, we were able to get an answer from former Physics

Professor Thomas D. Halling and Construction Company Manager Mr. Miles. From the Physics

Department, Mr. Halling told us not to overly complicate our ideas and models, for it will

increase the difficulty in the construction process, and will also make the complexity of the
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physics components out of our league. From the construction side, Mr. Miles had told us not to

go over the constraints of a normal stair size, for it will be harder to implement into existing

households. We will need additional expert assistance from the health department field to further

our understanding in body structure and the elderly body.

Many solutions exist for the problem of elderly people falling while walking up and

down stairs. One commonly found patent is a stairlift, which electrically transports the person up

the stairs on a track (Stairlift). This patents strengths are that it is very innovative, easy for the

elderly as it only requires them to sit down, and it makes good use of technology. Its

shortcomings, however, are that it makes the elderly lazy and weak as it does not require them to

do anything, it relies too much on electricity, and it is very aesthetically unpleasant. Another

commonly found solution is a knee brace that adds spring to a persons step (Knee Joint and

Method). This solution aids the elderly in climbing up the stairs by making their knees stronger

and better able to support their weight. The strengths of this patent are its simplicity, easiness to

use, price, and transportability. The weaknesses of this patent are its effectiveness, comfort, and

applicability. In making our solution, we should look to combine the strengths of these patents

but also avoid and take into account the shortcomings.

In our market research, we found that there would be a huge need and demand for our

solution. In fact, 30% of people over age 65 and 50% over age 80 will fall once during the next

year (Problems for Elderly). This shows that the problem is very widespread among the elderly,

thus making a huge demand for a product that solves the problem. Thus, the main consumers and
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buyers of our product would be the elderly, or concerned relatives of the elderly, so that they can

ensure the safety of their loved ones. People would bother to try our product because safety is

one of the most valuable things one can have, and our solution aims to bring this to the elderly in

risk of major injury from walking up and down stairs.

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Conclusion Questions

1. When performing a market analysis, explain why it is more important to

determine the total available market rather than the percentage of the population that believes

the problem is important to solve?

The difference between a total available market and the percentage of the population is

that the percentage of population focuses on the people and their opinions instead of the facts.

The total available market has a more factual analysis and a more accurate one. So in terms of

what we are trying to do with our solution it would be more reasonable to use the total available

market to get better results.

2. A large portion of this document will become part of your final documentation,

but other parts will be reassessed throughout the process. List the parts that you will reassess

and identify how often you will do this. Create reassessment reminders for your team or add

reassessment tasks to your teams Gantt chart?

Personally for us the part that was reassessed was the Problem Statement and Statement

of Purpose. We chose this one because this was the least complicated one to do and could be

found easily with no pressure. This specific one didn't take long to find and it was a great way to

properly support and elaborate on our problem statements.

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Works Cited

Bor, J. H., & H, B. J. (n.d.). Patent US4627517 - Stairlift. Retrieved December 13, 2016,

from https://www.google.com/patents/US4627517

Campbell, J. H., Helenberger, D. M., Zalinski, N. C., & Company, B. O. (n.d.). Patent

US6471664 - Knee joint and method. Retrieved December 13, 2016, from

https://www.google.com/patents/US6471664

Difficulty climbing stairs. (n.d.). Retrieved December 19, 2016, from

http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/sym/difficulty_climbing_stairs.htm

Falls and Injury Statistics for Seniors and Elderly. (n.d.). Retrieved December 19, 2016, from

http://www.learnnottofall.com/content/fall-facts/how-often.jsp

Problems for Elderly People Climbing Stairs. (n.d.). Retrieved December 19, 2016, from

http://agingparentsauthority.com/elderly-needs/

The Normal Weight for a 70-Year-Old. (2016). Retrieved December 19, 2016, from

http://www.livestrong.com/article/335120-the-normal-weight-for-a-70-year-old/