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Updated: Jan 14, 2026
Methodology for Establishing a Community-Wide Life Laboratory for Capturing Unobtrusive and Continuous Remote Activity and Health Data
Published on: July 27, 2018
Home-Based Digital Technologies to Support Aging-in-Place for Rural African American People With Alzheimer Disease
Otis Owens1, Rahul Ghosal2, Zachary Beattie3
1College of Social Work, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, United States.
Background:
Rural, low-income African American people have the highest Alzheimer disease and related dementia (ADRD) incidence and prevalence rates but have the least access to formal dementia care. To support individuals living with ADRD, growing evidence suggests that remote monitoring technologies can augment existing care by facilitating the completion of activities of daily living (ADLs) and maintaining communication between individuals living with ADRD and their care partners. Despite the success of remote technologies, no studies have investigated the usability, acceptability, and feasibility of these technologies among rural, lower-income African American people living with ADRD and their care partners. Understanding the potential impact of remote monitoring technology on this population can guide the development of tailored aging-in-place interventions.
Objective:
Among rural, low-income African American people living with ADRD and their care partners, our study, "Revolutionizing Empowerment of African Americans' Cognitive Health Through Innovative Technology," aims (1) to identify barriers to aging-in-place, current technology use behaviors, and attitudes toward remote monitoring technologies and (2) to examine the usability, acceptability, and feasibility of deploying a remote monitoring system in the homes of this population for supporting ADLs.
Methods:
In total, 10 low-income African American people living with ADRD and their care partners will be recruited from rural cities in South Carolina. Participants will complete a short web-based survey to collect demographics and their knowledge, experience, and comfort with using internet-connected devices, followed by 45- to 60-minute in-depth interviews (objective 1). In phase 2 (ie, objective 2), 10 additional pairs of participants will be recruited to use a remote monitoring system for 18 months. "Weekly Health Update" surveys will measure changes in health and time spent at home. In-depth interviews will be used at 18 months to examine the usability and acceptability of the system. Feasibility will be determined by the percentage of days data are collected across all sensors.
Results:
This study was approved by the institutional review board in June 2024. Recruitment for objective 1 began in January 2025. To date, 5 persons living with ADRD and their care partners have been recruited, surveyed, and interviewed about their challenges to aging with ADRD or caring for someone with the disease, technology use, and openness to remote monitoring technology. Recruitment for objective 2 is anticipated to begin in fall 2025, and data collection will conclude by May 2027. Results for objectives 1 and 2 are expected to be published in fall 2026 and winter 2027, respectively.
Conclusions:
Findings from the Revolutionizing Empowerment of African Americans' Cognitive Health Through Innovative Technology study will contribute to the refinement of the Collaborative Aging Research Using Technology platform, a multisensor remote monitoring system to support the ADLs for low-income, rural-dwelling African American people living with ADRD.
International Registered Report Identifier (Irrid):
DERR1-10.2196/78623.
