A survey of older Hong Kong people's perceptions of telecommunication technologies and telecare devices

We investigated how older Hong Kong people perceive the application of telecommunication technologies in products that could enhance their safety at home. The telecare devices in the present study were: (1) the Personal Emergency Link Service (PELS), a 24-hour personal emergency link service; (2) a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of telemedicine and telecare Vol. 16; no. 8; p. 441
Main Authors Lai, Claudia K Y, Chung, Jenny C C, Leung, Natalie K L, Wong, Jimmy C T, Mak, Diana P S
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 01.01.2010
Subjects
Aged
Attitude to Health
Female
Home Care Services
Hong Kong
Humans
Male
Patient Preference
Surveys and Questionnaires
Telecommunications
Telemedicine - methods
Hong Kong
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Summary:We investigated how older Hong Kong people perceive the application of telecommunication technologies in products that could enhance their safety at home. The telecare devices in the present study were: (1) the Personal Emergency Link Service (PELS), a 24-hour personal emergency link service; (2) a home-based non-intrusive motion monitoring system; and (3) a wearable vital signs monitoring system. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 368 elderly persons aged 65 years or above from 15 District Elderly Community Centres in Hong Kong, through a structured questionnaire administered during face-to-face interviews by trained interviewers. All three telecare devices were generally perceived as useful by the elderly participants: the PELS by 96% of them, the home-based non-intrusive monitoring system by 91% and the wearable vital signs monitoring system by 84%. However, although many respondents were positive about the function and usefulness of these devices, they stated that they would not personally use them. Technological innovations need to be perceived by the elderly as relevant to their everyday lives.
ISSN:1758-1109
DOI:10.1258/jtt.2010.090905