Older Adults’ Perceptions of Fall Detection Devices

Abstract

A third of adults over the age of 65 are estimated to fall at least once a year. Perhaps as dangerous as the fall itself is the time spent after a fall if the person is unable to move. Although there are many devices available to detect when a person has fallen, little is known about the opinions of older adults regarding these fall detection devices (FDDs). We conducted five focus groups with 27 older adults. Transcripts from sessions were coded to generate themes that captured participants' perceptions. Themes were identified that related to two topics of interest: (a) personal influences on the participants' desire to have a FDD, including perceived need, participant values, and cost, and (b) participant recommendations regarding specific features and functionalities of these devices such as automation, wearable versus non-wearable devices, and device customization. Together, these themes suggest ways in which FDDs may be improved so that they are suitable for their intended population.

A battery-less and wireless wearable sensor system for identifying bed and chair exits in a pilot trial in hospitalized older people

“…Wearable sensors as part of a falls prevention alarm system can provide new opportunities for individualized monitoring of patients [ 20 – 22 ] where human motion data can be collected and transmitted in real time for analysis. More importantly, recent studies [ 23 , 24 ] suggest that older people have demonstrated interest in small sensors embedded in their clothing. In addition, as sensors are decreasing in size and power consumption, the inclusion of multiple sensors can further extract physiological signals of interest [ 20 – 22 ] along with motion data.…”

Monitorowanie aktywności fizycznej osób starszych a źródła pól elektromagnetycznych

“…Potencjalne korzyści technologii detekcji aktywności ruchowej w domu dla utrzymania zdrowia i niezależności osób starszych (jak również opinie osób starszych związanych z użytkowaniem takich systemów) są przedmiotem badań ostatnich lat [6,7,8,9,10,11,12]. W związku ze zdalnym monitorowaniem w doniesieniach rozpatruje się określenie potrzeb i oczekiwań seniorów oraz członków ich rodzin [13].…”

Preliminary Examination of the Accuracy of a Fall Detection Device Embedded into Hearing Instruments

“…A variety of FDDs, including the one using a hearing aid with an embedded inertial sensor, have been previously used in research (Lindemann et al 22 ; Bourke et al 7 ). Common wearable FDDs include neck-worn pendants, smartphone apps, and wrist-worn devices (Aguiar et al 2 ; Lipsitz et al 23 ; Chaudhuri et al 8 ). Others have used environmental sensors such as cameras or microphones to detect falls in fixed locations, for example, in the laboratory, within nursing facilities (Rougier et al 31 ; Li et al 20 ).…”

“…One possible solution to increase fall-detection-monitoring technology adoption may be to integrate FDDs into functional hearing instruments, which are less-conspicuous than other forms of FDDs, are commonly already being worn by individuals who are at risk for falling, and have become progressively less-stigmatized, wearable devices (Rauterkus and Palmer 28 ; Chaudhuri et al 8 ).…”