Monitoring falls in elderly people: lessons from a community-based project

This paper describes an evaluation of a community-based fall-detection project using smart phone based tri-axial accelerometry to identify factors that affect adoption and use of such technology by elderly people.

A mixed methods study using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews was conducted to evaluate attitudes of the elderly people participating, as well as project stakeholders involved in the project. Information registered in a web-based fall management system was analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively, using an adapted version of Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT).

Adoption rate was 61.7% and attrition rate was 57%, the most common reasons for attrition being health deterioration (50%) and problems with the device and the network (26.2%).

We identified a number of challenges that affected the success of this project, including problems with the software, usability issues with the device, coverage of the network, training of participants, and inadequacy of providing participants with a strong sense of safety and security.