JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Wearable technology for falls alerts among older adult care recipients is one of the more frequently studied areas of technology, given the concerning consequences of falls among this population. Falls are quite prevalent in later life. While there is a growing literature on older adults’ acceptance of technology, less is known about how caregivers’ attitudes towards technology can impact care recipient’s use of such technology.

Objective:

The objective of our study was to examine associations between caregivers’ attitudes towards technology for caregiving and care recipients’ use of falls alert wearables.

Methods:

This study examined data collected with an online survey from 626 caregivers for adults 50 years and older. Adapting the technology acceptance model, a structural equation model tested the following hypotheses: (1) higher perceived usefulness of technologies for caregiving would predict higher perceived value of and greater interest in technologies for caregiving; (2) higher perceived value of technologies for caregiving would predict greater interest in technologies for caregiving; and (3) greater interest in technologies for caregiving would predict greater use of falls alert wearables among care recipients. Additionally, we included demographic factors (e.g., caregiver and care recipients’ ages) and caregiving context (e.g., caregiver type and caregiving situation) as important predictors of care recipients’ use of falls alert wearables.

Results:

Of 626 total respondents, 548 (87.5%) with all valid responses were included in this study. Among care recipients, 28% used falls alert wearables. The final model had a good-to-fair model fit: confirmatory factor index (CFI)(0.91), standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) (0.049), and root mean square error of approximation RMSEA (0.080). All tested paths were statistically significant, and the direction of the estimated effects of perceived usefulness, perceived value, and interest were as hypothesized. Caregivers’ perceived usefulness of technology was positively associated with their attitudes towards using technology in caregiving (b = .70, P < .001) and interest in using technology for caregiving (b = .22, P < .001). Greater perceived value of using technology in caregiving predicted greater interest in using technology for caregiving (b = .65, P < .001). Greater interest in using technology for caregiving was associated with a greater likelihood of care recipients using falls alert wearables (b = .27, P < .001). The caregiver type had the strongest inverse relationship with care recipients’ use of falls alert wearables (unpaid vs. paid caregiver) (b = -.33, P < .001).

Conclusions:

This study underscores the importance of caregivers’ attitudes in care recipients’ technology use for falls management. Raising awareness and improving perception about technologies for caregiving may help caregivers and care recipients adopt and better utilize technologies that can promote independence and enhance safety.