Abstract

Introduction: Falls in the home environment are an important health issue that causes a significant percentage of nonfatal trauma-related hospital admissions among older adults. Gerontechnology for falls has emerged to promote aging-in-place. However, older adults are often unaware of these technologies, as well as their adult children, who were identified as the main decision-makers over their parents’ technology adoption. The purpose of this study was to examine adult children’s perceptions of gerontechnology usage for their aging parents who have a history of falls. Methods: A total of 323 participants living across the US responded to a web-based survey where they were introduced to gerontechnology for falls and responded to a series of questions. Descriptive and inferential statistics were utilized to analyze collected data. Results: The results showed that four out of six hypotheses were supported, with about 76.5% of the participants reporting that they did not know much about gerontechnology for falls. However, low perceived knowledge did not affect the participants’ positive attitudes toward gerontechnology. Technology readiness, perceived advantage, and perceived compatibility were the main factors influencing positive attitudes toward gerontechnology for falls. Discussion: Participants in this study recognized the advantages of gerontechnology for falls and felt they were compatible with their parents’ needs and income. In addition, this generation of participants, 65% being millennials, are used to technology and know they need to take advantage of emerging gerontechnology, which could help them to provide better care to their parents.