The acceptability of home monitoring technology among community-dwelling older adults and baby boomers

T h is p ilot study investigated the willingness of two ge nerational cohorts (current baby boomers and older adults) to accept hom e monitoring technology. T h irty individuals (15 baby boomers and 15 older adults) of both genders and living in the community participated in str uctured, mixed methods interviews. The participants' opinions and views on various technologies (e.g., personal emergency response systems, fall detection systems) and sensor types (e.g. , switches, motion sensors, com p u ter vision) were determined, including locations within the home where they would be willing to install and use such technologies. Overall, it was found that these technologies would be acceptable if they allowed the participants to remain in their own homes and to age in place . Furthermore, a between-grou p analysis indicated that there were not many statis tically significant differences between the o p in io ns of the two cohorts with respect to preferences ab ou t types and locations of these technologies.