Baseline study of receptivity to telecare technology in a community-based older minority population

One of the goals identified in Healthy People 2010, a roadmap for improving health of all people in the United States, is to increase life expectancy and quality of life over the next 10 years. Another goal is to eliminate health disparities including differences that occur by gender, race or ethnicity, education or income. African Americans, for example, continue to have a lower life expectancy rate than the overall population. This study examined attitudes and practices related to readiness to use technologies for telecare among an older minority population residing in affordable housing. Eighty-five respondents with an average age of 73 completed a self-administered survey that assessed receptivity for telecare. The technology that would most likely be used was environmental sensors in the home. The top five situations in which respondents would be receptive to new technology were all related to improving communications with a doctor or a nurse, especially in time of medical emergency. These included devices to send information to a doctor, call for medical help, signal a nurse that “ I am OK”, and monitoring to detect falls. This highlights the importance of including numerous opportunities for the individual to communicate better with their medical providers. The one situation that gave respondents the most concern was the “use of a camera to check on me when I am sick.” This study provides some evidence of receptivity of older minorities residing in affordable housing to the introduction of new telecare technologies.