Our Project -- The Petavator 3000

This is the mock-up of the Petavator 3000.  It is an elevator to raise and lower pet food to the ground. 

One member of the Mec Del team, Jack, went to visit his grandma over the summer.  He noticed that she had a hard time bending over to pick up her dogs food bowl to feed him because she had arthritis.  The arthritus made it painful for her to bend over. 

As the team discussed this observation, they decided they wanted to solve her problem.

While doing their research they learned that in addition to arthritus, there are other issues that could prevent an elderly person from caring for a pet such as, parkinson's disease or being in a wheel chair, but they also learned that bending over to feed the pet could cause the senior to fall.  Falling is a big probelm:   

• Falls are the leading cause of death due to injury among the elderly

 • 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.

•Documented statistics fall short of the actual number since many incidents are unreported by seniors and unrecognized by family members or caregivers.

•Falls account for 25% of all hospital admissions, and 40% of all nursing home admissions 40% of those admitted do not return to independent living; 25% die within a year.

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

Other Statistics about the other people this invention could help:

· An estimated seven to 10 million people worldwide are living with Parkinson's disease.

· Incidence of Parkinson’s increases with age, but an estimated four percent of people with PD are diagnosed before the age of 50.

http://www.pdf.org/en/parkinson_statistics

·      people who have been diagnosed with some form of arthritis:  50 million

·      adults with osteoarthritis        27 million

·      adults with rheumatoid arthritis 1.5 million

http://www.statisticbrain.com/arthritis-statistics/

We also learned that having a senior own a pet is a very good thing.

Pet Ownership

There are approximately 78.2 million owned dogs in the United States

Thirty-nine percent of U.S. households own at least one dog

There are approximately 86.4 million owned cats in the United States

Thirty-three percent of U.S. households own at least one cat

http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/pet_overpopulation/facts/pet_ownership_statistics.html

Why Seniors Should Own Pets…

• Seniors with pets have more emotional stability in times of stress.

• Pet owners have lower systolic blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

• Cardiac patients who have owned pets live longer than those who don’t have pets. For example, people without cats are 30 to 40 percent more likely to die of heart disease than those who own cats, the study shows.

• It's healthy for seniors when their pets are nearby. Pets can stabilize a person of any age's heart rate and blood pressure when faced with a challenge.

• Fewer doctor visits per year for elderly dog owners than non-owners.

http://www.pawssf.org/document.doc?id=15

Besides, owning a pet gives the senior a reason for waking up in the morning.  It gives them a sense of pride, responsibilty and independence, so the longer they can keep their animal with them, the better.