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A growing aging population in the developed world has brought a number of challenges, particularly in healthcare (New Zealand Government, 2013; Statistics New Zealand, 2013). For example, the number of New Zealanders who are age 65 years and older is expected to rise by 10 percent in the next 20 years. There are significant costs related to the care of an aging population and there is a trend by governments to encourage people to remain within the community and “age in place” (New Zealand Government, 2013; Statistics New Zealand, 2013). The costs of an aging population and this trend toward independent living have stimulated interest in supporting older people to live independently using Smart Home Technology, such as infrared motion detectors, sensors built into beds and chairs, and smart appliances, such as televisions, refrigerators and cooking appliances to monitor their health and daily activities and connect them with their support networks and healthcare providers. These technologies are not only useful in supporting independent living but can also be used to support adults living in aged-care facilities. Global interest in Smart Home Technology for the elderly has been driven by research and investments by governments and private companies (Coughlinet et al., 2007). However, although these technologies have been the subject of much research and development for several years, they have not yet been widely adopted into new models of care (Ienca et al., 2018).
The aim of this research is to explore the reasons behind this lack of adoption. The study uses a qualitative exploratory approach to investigate the perceived challenges of developing and deploying these technologies from the perspective of three key stakeholder groups: managers of aged-care facilities, older adults and technology developers. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives of each of these groups to explore their understanding of the technologies, their perceptions of the key barriers to adoption and their ideas about how technology uptake can be facilitated.
The work reported here adds to the scholarly body of knowledge related to the uptake of Smart Home Technology for telemonitoring by examining the perspectives of key stakeholder groups. The qualitative nature of the research means that care should be taken when generalizing the findings beyond the study locations, however it is valuable because it highlights the need to address many organizational issues which have been largely neglected in related health informatics scholarship to date. In particular, the study found that many potential users acknowledged that adoption was inhibited by their lack of knowledge about the capabilities, availability and potential benefits of the technologies.
The next section of this paper summarizes the extant literature used to identify key issues to guide the interviews. Next, we explain the methodological approach and the characteristics of the respondents. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were selected because they can provide a comprehensive understanding of participants’ perspectives of a chosen phenomenon. We interviewed representatives of three key stakeholder groups to gain a range of perspectives.
Then we present and discuss the findings from the thematic analysis of the interviews and identify perceived barriers and facilitators for adoption of the technologies. The paper concludes by identifying areas requiring further research and offering recommendations for facilitating uptake of the technologies.