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An Evidence-Based Adoption of Technology Model for Remote Monitoring of Elders’ Daily Activities

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Abstract

What benefit will new technologies offer if they are inadequately or not used? This work presents a meta-synthesis of adoption of technology related findings from four innovative monitoring intervention research studies with older adults and their informal and/or formal caregivers. Each study employed mixed methods analyses that lead to an understanding of the key variables that influenced adoption of telephone and Internet based wireless remote monitoring technologies by elders and their caregivers. The studies were all conducted in “real world” homes ranging from solo residences to multi-story independent living residential buildings. Insights gained came from issues not found in controlled laboratory environments but in the complex interplay of family-elder-staff dynamics around balancing safety and independence. Findings resulted in an adoption of technology model for remote monitoring of elders’ daily activities derived from evidence based research to advance both practical and theoretical development in the field of gerontechnology.

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Acknowledgments

This paper was supported through the Jacque Mohr Research Professorship at the MGH Institute of Health Professions. Credit is shared with the variety of research teams who participated in the development and testing of the monitoring technologies. Funding for the original studies was provided by the Boston Foundation for ElderCare (1993–4), National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging (U01AG13255, 1995–2002) for REACH for TLC-Telephone Linked Care, Department of Commerce, Technology Opportunity Program (2001–2004) for Worker Interactive Networking, and Automated Technology for Elder Assessment, Safety, and Environment by the Alzheimer’s Association Sensors for Seniors with Alzheimer’s Disease (ETAC, 2004–2007), and by the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Nursing Research, for Nursense: Caregiver Vigilance Through Elder E-Monitoring (R21NR009262, 2005–2008). All the studies had received full board approval by a nationally certified Institutional Review Board (IRB) for human studies in accordance with the ethical standards promulgated in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki prior to commencing and received ongoing reviews and annual IRB approvals over the course of their study periods.

The author reports no conflict of interest or disclosure of other sources of financial support.

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  1. School of Nursing, MGH Institute of Health Professions, Boston, MA, 02129-4557, USA

    Diane Feeney Mahoney

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  1. Diane Feeney Mahoney
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Correspondence to Diane Feeney Mahoney.

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Mahoney, D.F. An Evidence-Based Adoption of Technology Model for Remote Monitoring of Elders’ Daily Activities. Ageing Int 36, 66–81 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12126-010-9073-0

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