Preventing Falls Among Older Adults Through Technology-Based Home Safety Assessment

Falls among older adults are a serious public health concern. In addition to exercise interventions, evaluating and modifying the home environment is essential for effective fall prevention. However, home assessments conducted via in-person visits are not frequently implemented due to constraints related to time and human resources. Recently, the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in remote medical care has gained increasing attention, raising the possibility of its application in home evaluations. Nonetheless, there have been no prior reports evaluating the effectiveness of ICT-based home assessments as an alternative to traditional in-person visits. This report presents the case of an older adult female with bilateral knee osteoarthritis and mild cognitive impairments who had experienced recurrent falls. Concerned about her safety, the individual's family consulted an occupational therapist to conduct a home assessment. The Japanese version of the Westmead Home Safety Assessment was used for both in-person and online assessments. The results of both assessments were found to be highly consistent. After implementing countermeasures based on the hazards identified during the online assessment, the individual did not experience any falls over the subsequent six months. The individual's family members reported high levels of satisfaction with the assessment process and its outcomes. This case suggests that online home assessments utilizing ICT may serve as a viable alternative or supplementary method to traditional home visits.