Contributions of ambient assisted living for health and quality of life in the elderly and care services - a qualitative analysis from the experts’ perspective of care service professionals

BMC Geriatrics

Thomas Ernst Dorner¹  Andreas Hochgatterer²  Christian Siegel² 

[1] Medical University of Vienna, Centre for Public Health, Institute of Social Medicine, Kinderspitalgasse 15/1, Vienna 1090, Austria;Biomedical Systems Division, Department of Health and Environment, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Viktor-Kaplan-Strasse 2/1, Wiener Neustadt 2700, Austria

关键词: Assistive technologies;    Independent elderly;    Independent living;    Quality of life;    Ambient assisted living;   

Others  :  1089903
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2318-14-112

 received in 2014-04-29, accepted in 2014-10-10,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

Because of the demographic change in industrial countries new technical solutions for the independent living of elderly will become important in the next years. Ambient Assisted Living seeks to address the upcoming challenges by providing technical aids for elderly and care givers. Therefore it is crucial to understand how those socio-technical solutions can address their needs and quality of life (QOL). The aim of this study was to analyse the main needs of dependent elderly and to investigate how different solutions can contribute to health and quality of life.

Methods

A qualitative study design consisting of interviews with 11 professionals of geriatric care organisations was chosen. The data analysis was done by applying the qualitative content analysis by Philipp Mayring. The analysis was based on the basic principle of the bio-psycho-social model of health

Results

Ambient Assisted Living solutions and assistive technologies can have positive impacts on different dimensions of health and quality of life. The needs and problems of elderly can be addressed by applying appropriate solutions which influence the physical, mental and social dimensions of quality of life. There are also benefits for social care providers, their staff and caring relatives of impaired elderly. Ambient Assisted Living solutions can also be used as a facilitator for operational optimization of care services.

Conclusions

Solutions for telemedicine and telecare which are connected to Ambient Assisted Living solutions will have the biggest positive impact on care giving services. Also simple technical aids can be beneficial for elderly to enhance QOL by enabling autonomy in their familiar surroundings.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Siegel et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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