The future of tech at home
A few technology companies, such as Best Buy Canada, are working on solutions to meet the needs of older adults and caregivers. The team at COURAGE asked Rei Ahn, Research and Experience Lead at Best Buy Health Canada, to share how we can use the full potential of technology to help older adults age in place.
Technology can supplement care and help older adults live safely and independently at home — wherever they call home. Though in theory this sounds great, we have work to do to make technology selection, implementation and long-term adoption an easy process for all.
The pandemic exposed gaps in our current care model that led to quick mobilization of innovative ways to use technology. Though there were many positive outcomes, it also helped to recognize that older adults were often left behind when it comes to digital equity — having access to the Internet and devices and the skills to use technology. In an effort to do our part in supporting digital equity for older adults, Best Buy Health Canada’s focus has been on identifying ways technology can enable aging in place and ultimately improve quality of life for older adults and their caregivers.
With the focus on supporting aging at home, we co-hosted the Helpful Home Virtual Roundtable with Health Cities and the Brenda Strafford Foundation. Key stakeholders helped develop a framework that can serve as a model when thinking about how technology can be used to help older adults age in place. As a result, we identified seven areas where technology can create a home environment supporting the safety and independence of older adults.[1] These include:
Urgent response (e.g., fall-driven call or user-triggered calls to urgent response/caregivers)
Support with activities of daily living (e.g., cooking, cleaning)
Fun (e.g., games, entertainments)
Home safety (e.g., smart doorbell, door locks, smart lights)
Personal wellness (e.g., tracking of weight, sleep)
Convenience (e.g., smart blinds)
Connectedness (e.g., devices to promote connection)
As experts in consumer technology, it has been essential for us to identify and narrow down technology selections that meet the needs of older adults in the home as well as their caregivers.
Identifying these areas was the easier task. It gets complicated as we think about when, what and how technology should be introduced for long-term adoption as there are many factors that determine this. Examples include older adults’ interests, where they are in their aging journey, their support systems, who older adults and families trust when receiving tech solutions to age in place, their digital literacy level, the roles of parties involved (e.g., active or passive user of tech), and the list goes on. This reiterates the importance of a person-centred approach to implementation by a trusted body.
Technology selection is also not easy as there is an overwhelming amount of technology available in the market. For example, the Internet of Things (IoT), which are physical devices around the world that are connected and share data to the Internet such as smart home, is one of the continuously growing categories. In 2021, there were more than 10 billion active IoT devices, and it is estimated that this number will surpass 25.4 billion devices by 2030.[2] As experts in consumer technology, it has been essential for us to identify and narrow down technology selections that meet the needs of older adults in the home as well as their caregivers.
For technology to enable aging in place, we must involve older adults in the process, from development to implementation to enabling ownership and self-management, where possible. Additionally, we must consider what roles that care support systems (e.g., family, community, health care) and tech support systems (e.g., infrastructure, tech expertise) must play to make implementation and long-term adoption possible.[1] Ultimately, we need to work collaboratively to build a sustainable model that can generate 1) social return, improving the independence and quality of life of older adults at home and 2) economic returns, creating savings through reduced use of care, or use care services more effectively.[3]
With the reinforcement of technology, and digital equity being a necessity, there is an opportunity to move away from thinking about older adults’ health only at points of acute illness or injury and move toward prevention and empowerment (self-management), and hopefully an improved quality of life, through technology. To do this, collaboration of all parties involved (including government, academia, health care, community, older adults and industry) will be essential in identifying gaps and solutions. Their involvement is also critical to understand when, what and how technology can be introduced in ethical and effective ways. This implementation will enable the full potential of technology with the common goal to help older adults age in place and maintain independence as much as possible.
Rei Ahn, MPH, is the Research and Experience Lead with Best Buy Health Canada, where she works at the intersection of business, health and service design and channels her passion for human-centred design in the creation of meaningful services for older adults throughout Canada. Rei brings experience from the field of implementation science and knowledge translation, where her work focused on improving the uptake of evidence-based community programs in the real world.