Technologies to Support Aging among People with Long-Term Disabilities
2025 TechSAge Newsletter
Year in Review: Join us in looking back at the past year to highlight achievements and updates from the Center. Learn more about our featured projects and staff, and catch up on the latest events, publications, and study opportunities.
Read the Newsletter
Featured Article: Development and Usability of MSafe: A Fall Risk Application for Older Adults with Multiple Sclerosis
Falls are common among older adults with multiple sclerosis (MS) and can lead to injuries and loss of independence. A new TechSAge article in Sensors highlights the development of MSafe – a smartphone app that enables individuals with MS to assess and monitor their own fall risk. The app asks simple questions (e.g., fall history, medications) and includes short balance, movement, and thinking tasks. Older adults who tested MSafe said it was easy to use and helped them better understand their own abilities and fall risk. Read the full open-access article by Katherine Hsieh, Deborah Backus, T. Bradley Willingham, and Jon Sanford.
Full ArticleLatest Publications
Everyday challenges and solutions
For individuals aging with Deafness
Designing for the Intersection of Aging and Disability
Application of the TechSAge Technology Intervention Model
Communication challenges and response strategies
of late-deafened older adults
Staff Spotlight: Shaoting Peng
Shaoting Peng is graduate student in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He is research assistant in Human-Centered Autonomy Lab and his research focuses on human-robot interaction algorithms. Shaoting is working alongside Katie Driggs-Campbell on a TechSAge seed grant project exploring challenges with existing smart walkers to drive the design of mobility support robots for older adults. Fun fact: Shaoting can read tarot cards and his friends say he is surprisingly accurate!
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TechSAge research is funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR Grant #90REGE0021)
NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).