Psychosocial Impact of Monitoring Technology in Assisted Living: A Pilot Study

Abstract

This paper describes a study designed to assess some psychosocial impacts of monitoring technology in assisted living. Monitoring systems were installed in 15 assisted living units to track the activities of daily living (ADLs) and key alert conditions of residents. Activity reports and alerts were sent to professional caregivers who provided care to residents participating in the study. Residents (N=15) were assessed using the satisfaction with life scales (SWLS) instrument, professional caregivers (N=7) were assessed using modified caregiver strain index (CSI) and caregiver burden interview (CBI) instruments, before and after the installation of the monitoring system. Pre- and post-installation scores of psychosocial assessment instruments were compared using t-test for means. A statistically significant increase was observed on SWLS results (p=0.031). No significant changes in CSI and CBI scores were detected (p=0.771 and 0.386 respectively). The results indicate that monitoring technologies could provide care coordination tools that may have a positive impact on users' quality of life