Deciding about the use of a Personal Safety Alerting Device-The need for a legitimation process: A qualitative study.
Friederike J S Thilo, Jos M G A Schols, Ruud J G Halfens and 2 others
PMID 33048381WHAT IT FOUND
Older adults did not adopt personal safety alert devices until they personally saw them as necessary, often after a fall, loss of a partner, health decline, or relative concern.
This means nurses can explore critical events and support informed decisions rather than simply supplying devices.
Key findings
01Older adults needed to personally perceive a personal safety alert device as necessary before using it, and this decision was shaped by critical events, ageing self, and technology perceptions.
02Falls experienced or reported by others and perceived deterioration of mobility were described as critical events that made participants reconsider device use.
03Participants valued devices that were easy to use without thinking and could be worn unobtrusively on the body.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was recruited through purposeful and snowball sampling, and the authors did not use a strategy to maximise variation within focus groups. Only ambulatory, German-speaking, cognitively unimpaired older adults living in the community were included, so findings may not apply to people with cognitive impairment, wheelchair users, or people living in institutions. Only one participant was currently using a personal safety alert device, so the findings are mainly about non-use or future decisions. The text reports 32 participants, but the participant table reports N = 31, so the analysed count is unclear. Participants were introduced to examples framed around falls, although the devices discussed could also be used for other emergencies. The findings were from Swiss older adults and may not transfer to other cultural contexts.
Declared interests
No conflict of interests was declared by the authors. The study was funded by Stiftung Symphasis.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that personal safety alert devices reduce falls, lying on the floor for a long time after a fall, or hospital admissions. This qualitative study describes older adults' reasons for using or not using them; it did not test whether devices work.