Page 260 - Handbook of Electronic Assistive Technology

Chapter 8 • Assisted Living 249

programme volunteers help by making periodic home visits; providing various forms of
nonprofessional help; or by including lonely individuals in the activities of local pensioners.
In the Netherlands, video networks enable home-care clients and home-care provid-
ers to contact each other by use of a camera and a screen. A home-care provider can be
contacted at any time day or night. An innovation that involves police officers checking
on older people in the Czech Republic called ‘Emergency Action’ enables an older person
to sign a contract with a police officer who takes a spare key to their house to ensure their
well-being (Genet et al., 2012).
The Nordic approach to supporting older people is more of a personal one. For example,
in Sweden, various parties provide products and services that support frail seniors who live in
their homes. When an older person experiences difficulties in managing their life at home, a
care professional (occupational therapist) visits the home and typically recommends physi-
cal adaptations and certain ATs and an emergency response. Essen (2006) reports:

Hence, many seniors grow old in homes that are: originally built by house building
companies; adjusted by carpenter firms; added to with various assistive technologies
and telecare services; and also incorporating entertainment/communication
technologies and kitchen appliances. It seems reasonable to assume that all these
technologies impact seniors’ capability to age in place. Hence, we will henceforth label
them ageing in place technologies. Today’s overall ageing in place system also includes
service components, produced by care providers. For example, there are formal
procedures for how care professionals are to receive and respond to the alarms that are
sent by the seniors using their pendant emergency alarm devices.

The key message from the Nordic countries is that technology by itself is not an answer;
it is if anything the wrong answer. Technology cannot and should not replace people in
critical situations. Telecare in the home is different from telecare in assisted living. Assisted
living has the ability to personalise care and to ensure the technology provided comple-
ments the person’s needs and requirements. This was one of the main themes of the
CUSTODIAN project in the design of their smart homes.
The status of telehealth and telecare integration in Europe is that it is an ongoing devel-
opment which has already penetrated most countries within the public sector but there is
reluctance to purchase the devices within the private sector.
Market penetration is limited by factors such as acceptance and trust in the technol-
ogy as people who use the devices are required to have faith that they will perform the
actions and desired responses when circumstances necessitate. The technology must
work and not force the person using it to change their behaviour and lifestyles (Dewsbury
and Ballard, 2014). Furthermore, PACITA (2014) highlights that unresolved issues around
the use of telecare might negatively influence the development, dissemination and further
investment in telecare technologies. The issues are grouped as follows:
• Unsolved cost provision issues.
• Changes in care provision.