Abstract
The study explores how mobile safety alarms can be utilized for ambient assisted living (AAL), and provides elderly safety, autonomy, independence and mobility. The aim is to generate knowledge on usage, usability and technical requirements to harvest the potential benefits of using wearable and mobile technologies in care for safe and active living. The study is based on real life pilots in three Norwegian municipalities with 71 users, their caregivers and relatives. Pilot users wore the mobile safety alarm while performing their daily activities – indoor and outdoor. The study shows increased safety to users, their relatives and caregivers and increased activity and mobility indicating improved social and physical health. Further development of wearables and mobile technologies is requested to meet user needs, and the inclusion of relatives imposes new challenges in terms of privacy. Mobile safety alarms represent a huge potential for efficiency and innovation in integrated care, but new tools are required for efficient collaboration and operation for large-scale implementations.
