Psychosocial Impact of Passive Health Status Monitoring on Informal Caregivers and Older Adults Living in Independent Senior Housing

This paper describes a study designed to assess some psychosocial impacts of monitoring technology on seniors living in independent senior housing. monitoring systems were installed, in 25 independent living units in an apartment complex, to track the activities of daily living (ADLs) and key alert conditions of residents. Activity reports were sent to informal caregivers. Residents (N=25) were assessed using the satisfaction with life scales (SWLS) instrument, informal caregivers (N=26) were assessed using modified caregiver strain index (CSI) and caregiver burden interview (CBI) instruments, before and after the installation of the monitoring system. Paired t-test for means was applied to the pre- and post-monitoring scores of SWLS, CSI, and CBI. The Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks nonparametric test was applied to compare the number of informal care hours pre- and post-monitoring. No statistically significant increase was observed on SWLS results. No significant changes in CSI and CBI scores were detected. There was a statistically significant increase in the number of informal care hours provided by the informal caregivers of monitored individuals. The results indicate that monitoring technologies could have enabled informal caregivers to provide more care for their loved ones without increasing their burdens, strain levels or negatively affecting their quality of life