BackgroundInformal support is essential for enabling many older people to age in place. However, there is limited research examining the information needs of older adults’ informal support networks and how these could be met through home monitoring and information and communication technologies.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to investigate how technologies that connect older adults to their informal and formal support networks could assist aging in place and enhance older adults’ health and well-being.MethodsSemistructured interviews were conducted with 10 older adults and a total of 31 members of their self-identified informal support networks. They were asked questions about their information needs and how technology could support the older adults to age in place. The interviews were transcribed and thematically analyzed.ResultsThe analysis identified three overarching themes: (1) the social enablers theme, which outlined how timing, informal support networks, and safety concerns assist the older adults’ uptake of technology, (2) the technology concerns theme, which outlined concerns about cost, usability, information security and privacy, and technology superseding face-to-face contact, and (3) the information desired theme, which outlined what information should be collected and transferred and who should make decisions about this.ConclusionsOlder adults and their informal support networks may be receptive to technology that monitors older adults within the home if it enables aging in place for longer. However, cost, privacy, security, and usability barriers would need to be considered and the system should be individualizable to older adults’ changing needs. The user requirements identified from this study and described in this paper have informed the development of a technology that is currently being prototyped.

Simulation exercises, when organised with the aim of developing insight and empathy can result in positive outcomes for those who take part. Simulation exercises as an integrated learning tool for staff within healthcare settings should be provided.

Background Smart home and telemonitoring technologies have often been suggested to assist health care workers in supporting older people to age in place. However, there is limited research examining diverse information needs of different groups of health care workers and their access to appropriate information technologies. Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the issues associated with using technologies that connect older people to their health care providers to support aging in place and enhance older people’s health and well-being. Methods Seven focus group discussions were conducted comprising 44 health care professionals who provided clinic-based or in-home services to community-dwelling older people. Participants were asked about their information needs and how technology could help them support older people to age in place. The recordings of the sessions were transcribed and thematically analyzed. Results The perspectives varied between the respondents who worked in primary care clinics and those who worked in community-based services. Three overarching themes were identified. The first theme was “access to technology and systems,” which examined the different levels of technology in use and the problems that various groups of health care professionals had in accessing information about their patients. Primary care professionals had access to good internal information systems but they experienced poor integration with other health care providers. The community-based teams had poor access to technology. The second theme was “collecting and sharing of information,” which focused on how technology might be used to provide them with more information about their patients. Primary care teams were interested in telemonitoring for specific clinical indicators but they wanted the information to be preprocessed. Community-based teams were more concerned about gaining information on the patients’ social environment. The third theme was that all respondents identified similar “barriers to uptake”: cost and funding issues, usability of systems by older people, and information security and privacy concerns. Conclusions The participants perceived the potential benefits of technologies, but they were concerned that the information they received should be preprocessed and integrated with current information systems and tailored to the older people’s unique and changing situations. Several management and governance issues were identified, which needed to be resolved to enable the widespread integration of these technologies into the health care system. The disconnected nature of the current information architecture means that there is no clear way for sensor data from telemonitoring and smart home devices to be integrated with other patient information. Furthermore, cost, privacy, security, and usability barriers also need to be resolved. This study highlights the importance and the complexity of management and governance of systems to collect and disseminate such information. Further research into the requirements of all stakeholder groups and how the information can be processed and disseminated is required.

There is increasing interest in using emerging technologies, such as social media, digital devices, and smart home technologies, to distribute information throughout an older person's formal and informal support networks to assist them to live independently in their own home (to age in place). An open research workshop was conducted as part of a health informatics conference, 24 self-selected participants were organised into sub-groups to discuss four generic questions relating to the collection and distribution of an older person's health information. Thematic analysis of the discussions identified three major themes relating to roles and responsibilities of stakeholders, information collection and interpretation, system management and control. The findings emphasise the importance of taking a socio-technical perspective to understand the requirements of all stakeholder groups. A number of new and emerging research issues are identified, particularly in relating to the long-term management and adaptation of personal support networks and technologies.