Australian Aged Care Technologies Collaborative

We undertook a qualitative assessment of aged care service technological needs from the perspective of consumers and providers. We aimed to gather foundational data to understand the experience of end-users better to inform the development of future technological priorities for gerontechnology in Australia and more broadly.

A cross-sectional survey from April to October 2020 recruited a convenience sample of individuals who:

• were 18 years or older
• were living in Australia
• self-identified as either an older adult aged 65 years or older, an informal family caregiver of an older adult aged 65 years or older and/or a clinician, healthcare practitioner or aged care service provider.

The survey found that aged care service technologies are currently not meeting end-user’s needs. Technology acceptance can be mediated by the perceived usefulness of the technology and its ease of use.

1. Develop an implementation plan to assist the aged care sector in advancing its capacity for technology capability. This can be shared and available for facilities to work on together.
2. Advocate co-design and co-evaluation of technology as the gold standard and encourage developers to work with older people, providers and healthcare practitioners to produce affordable, user-friendly, interoperable and sustainable technology.
3. Care providers to implement data management technology with clinical records and physical and mental health assessment tools. A shared plan may help to keep the costs within an affordable range.
4. Support informed technology development and use that protects privacy.
5. Improve the quality of life and care by embedding technologies (e.g. sensors and telehealth) that provide support while not restricting daily life.
6. Introduce various technology to stimulate, provide pleasurable activities and encourage exercise and social communication.
7. Improve the digital literacy of staff and family caregivers. When staff feel comfortable with technology they will more readily assist with the adoption.
8. Regularly review technologies to ensure they are evidence-based.
9. Develop an online database that summarises the best approaches to personalising technologies and information that supports this.
10. Encourage universities to work with industry and government to commercialise their technology products and to trial when appropriate in aged care.