Falls Detection and Prevention Systems in Home Care for Older Adults: Myth or Reality?

Abstract

There is an exponential increase in the range of digital products and devices promoting aging in place, in particular, devices aiming at preventing or detecting falls. However, their deployment is still limited and only few studies have been carried out in population-based settings owing to the technological challenges that remain to be overcome and the barriers that are specific to the users themselves, such as the generational digital divide and acceptability factors specific to the older adult population. To date, scarce studies consider these factors. To capitalize technological progress, the future step should be to better consider these factors and to deploy, in a broader and more ecological way, these technologies designed for older adults receiving home care to assess their effectiveness in real life.

Keywords: acceptability; aging; barriers; detection; digital divide; elderly people; fall; fall prevention; falls; geriatrics; home care; new technologies; seniors; technology acceptance.