Telecare for elderly users: Needs and benefits

Telemonitoring for Independently Living Elderly: Inventory of Needs & Requirements

“…1) Focus: In accordance with work by Sponselee et al [59], interviews with both residents of assisted living residences and volunteer aids reveal that their information need concerns foremost safety, typically with regard to care response on emergencies (e.g., falling incidents, wandering). However, interviews with health-care professionals and medical specialists reveal that their information need concerns indicators on the elderly's dependence on care (e.g., inactivity, self-neglect, loneliness).…”

“…With regard to the needs for a telemonitoring system for independently living elderly, where needs are defined as something that is required or wanted, a study by Sponselee et al [59] shows that health-related restraints that cause difficulties in daily life, increase the need for telemonitoring, and therefore increase the beneficial outcome effects of the technology for people. The same study shows that, in accordance with Maslow's pyramid, the most important functionality of the system is the alarm (with care support).…”

Models for the acceptance of tele-care solutions: Intention vs behaviour

“…This means that the users of such systems a) do not really choose the functionalities, b) do not have to accept them and c) note that the implemented functionalities do not well match existing needs that elderly people might have. It should therefore not come as a surprise that acceptance decreases after actual system use 5 and that the actual number of users of these systems after some 18 months generally will have been halved from what it was at the start 6 .…”

“…Various surveys and in depth studies make clear that this is not at all a given. Sponselee 6 shows that in a number of different projects the attrition rate is deplorably high, and generally of the order of 50% or more. This actually is an underestimation, as tele-care systems are only installed in cases where the care client agrees with it, and some clients feel that they will not need it, whereas the individual health situation would warrant it.…”

“…This, however, is the case when the client is relatively free from chronic diseases and not mobility restricted. It has been found that the appreciation of the benefits of tele-care is rising after a serious health incident has taken place, like a cardiovascular incident 6 .…”