In this study, we propose to evaluate the feasibility of using an unobtrusive In-home Monitoring System (IMS) to monitor selected independent activities of daily living of older adults in their living setting. The feasibility evaluation phase will primarily target the utility of the technology to professional and informal caregivers and acceptance of this technology by older adults. We will also validate the system in a multi-unit test site against users' activity journals and the results of formal activities of daily living (ADLs)/instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) assessments. The broader impact potentials for this technology include: 1. Reducing burdens on the health and elder care providers, and consequently reducing cost and/or improving the level of service. 2. Extending a healthy, active and dignified life for the aging through a comparatively low cost technology that can be made widely accessible to the low-income strata of society. 3. Delaying the admittance of elder adults to specialized institutions, and hence reducing the cost of formal elder/health care. 4. Reducing the cost of informal care, which is particularly high for older adult populations. 5. Reducing burdens on informal caregivers, including emotional and time burdens, and hence improving their mental and physical health conditions. These impacts, however, are outside the scope of this study and can be addressed in future studies.
Thesaurus Terms: evaluation /testing, functional ability, patient monitoring device, technology /technique development aging, caregiver, home health care, telemetry clinical research, human old age (65+), human subject, patient oriented research
