Conducting Technology Research in Long-Term Care Homes: Critical Reflections from Pan-Canadian Researchers

Abstract

Background The global population of older adults is growing, presenting opportunities to enhance care in long-term care homes (LTCHs). Technological advancements offer the potential to address healthcare challenges, such as improving residents' quality of life and social connectedness. However, there is often a mismatch between developed technologies and the actual needs of residents and staff, leading to poor adoption and sustainability. This gap underscores the need for research on developing and implementing technology in LTCHs. Researchers conducting these studies face unique challenges which need to be better explored in the existing literature. Understanding these challenges is crucial for enhancing technology adoption and ensuring its sustainability in LTCHs.Methods This study reflects on two technology implementation projects in British Columbia and Ontario, Canada. Researchers from the Telepresence Robot and Mouvmat projects participated in four reflection sessions. The discussions were transcribed and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Our analysis by graduate students and nursing researchers in the team, identified themes and gained useful insight into their experiences, learnings, and recommendations.Results Both projects aimed to enhance the quality of life for LTC residents. The Telepresence Robot project facilitated virtual communication between residents and their families, facing challenges such as training, staff shortages, and infrastructural limitations. Strategies included frequent check-ins with families, creating appropriate training materials, building trust with staff, and co-building solutions to infrastructural issues. Similarly, the Mouvmat project, a co-designed exergaming technology, dealt with recruitment challenges, staff shortages, and demographic changes in LTCH residents. The team used flexible recruitment strategies, virtual orientations, staff engagement tactics and personalized support. The lessons learnt highlighted the need for flexible and adaptive strategies in conducting research LTCHs.Conclusion The two projects underscore the complex challenges of technology research in LTCHs. The study calls for structural support, partnerships between academics and practice, and efforts to combat ageism in technology use. Researchers need support for knowledge translation and sharing findings to highlight the value of staff participation and showcase research benefits. This reinforces the essential role of research in improving care quality in LTCHs.