Feasibility Testing Of A Home-Based Sensor System To Monitor Mobility And Daily Activities In Korean American Older Adults

Aims and objectives: This study aimed to test feasibility of a home-based sensor system that is designed to assess mobility and daily activity patterns among Korean American older adults (KAOAs; n = 6) and explore sensor technology acceptance among participants.Background: Home-based sensors have the potential to support older adults' desire to remain at home as long as possible. Despite a growing interest in using home-based sensors for older adults, there have been no documented attempts to apply this type of technology to a group of ethnic minority older adults.Design: The study employed descriptive, quantitative and qualitative approaches.Methods: The system was deployed for 2 months in four homes of KAOAs. Study procedures included (i) sensor-based data collection, (ii) self-report mobility instruments, (iii) activity logs and (iv) interviews. To explore changes in activity patterns, line graphs and sequence plots were applied to data obtained from a set of sensors. General linear models (GLMs) were used for motion in each space of the home to examine how much variability of activities is explained by several time variables.Results: Sensor data had natural fluctuation over time. Different 24-hr patterns were observed across homes. The GLM estimates showed that effect sizes of the time variables vary across individuals. A hydro sensor deployed in one participant's bathroom inferred various water usage activities. Overall, sensors were acceptable for all participants, despite some privacy concerns.Conclusions: Study findings demonstrate that sensor technology applications could be successfully used longitudinally in a minority population of older adults that is not often targeted as an end-user group for the use of innovative technologies.Implications for practice: The use of home-based sensors provides nurses with a useful tool to detect deviations from normal patterns and to achieve proactive care for some groups of older adults.