OT & Smart Home Tech Adoption

The research we’ve explored on the podcast, seems to be pointing to a new reality:

The future of healthcare will be in the home. 

But, how will we get there? How will our homes ever be ready to age in place?

The transition is going to be a complex story of the right technologies, the right funding, and the right narratives. All of which will ultimately lead to the end goal of tech adoption.

The article we will explore in this 1-hour course focuses on smart home technology adoption. It showcases just how complex tech adoption is. But, it also gives a glimpse of the factors occupational therapy professionals should be considering when introducing new technology to your client.

After breaking down the article, we will be joined by Carol Chiang OT/L, CAPS, ECHM, CHAMP, to discuss what this all means for your occupational therapy practice, and our profession.

1. You will be able to identify indicators related to tech-readiness in older adults.

2. You will be able to recognize client factors that drive tech adoption.

• Intro

• Breakdown and analysis of journal article

  • Intro to smart home tech for aging in place

  • The past research on smart home tech adoption

  • What was the purpose of this paper?

  • What were the methods?

  • What were the results?

  • Conclusion

  • Takeaways for OT practitioners

• Discussion on practical implications for OTs (with Carol Chiang)

  1. Tell us how you first found OT.

  2. How did you become interested in Aging in Place?

  3. How is your entrepreneurial work different from traditional OT work?

  4. What were your initial impressions of the article?

  5. Did the 13 smart home technologies listed align with what you consider for aging in place?

  6. How do you weigh tech-adoption readiness when you do your initial consult?

  7. What factors do you see in your work that really support tech adoption?

  8. How are people paying for aging in place technologies?

  9. It feels like there are so many aging in place technologies coming out, how do you personally keep up?

  10. The future of medicine is in the home—how would you like to see OT evolve to help meet this challenge?

Primary

• Profiles and Predictors of Smart Home Technology Adoption by Older Adults

Additional

• Occupational therapy and the use of technology on older adult fall prevention: A scoping review

• Home modifications and repurposing: Perspectives on the accessibility, affordability, and attractiveness

Resources for OT professionals

• Re-thinking Aging Group on Clubhouse

• State Assistive Programs: Florida,  Pennsylvania

• Smart Home Presentation @ Rehab Tech Summit:  How to Include Smart Home Technology into your Therapeutic Interventions (Search on YouTube)

It is the policy of OT Potential to disclose any financial and non-financial interest the provider or instructor may have in a product or service mentioned during an activity. This is to ensure that the audience is made aware of any bias of the speaker.

OT Potential pays guest speakers an honorarium for their participation, either directly or to an institution of the speaker's choosing at their request. We invite guests whose expertise often comes from practices, programs, or building products in their field. Where a speaker has a financial interest in the subject of a course, we disclose it below so you can weigh it for yourself.

OT Potential's interest in this topic: We have no financial stake in this topic.

Speaker interests: Carol Chiang is the founder of Evolving Homes, a paid aging-in-place consulting service, and the creator of Age in Place or Find a New Space®. She also works as a realtor.