Page 74 - Petelin, Ana. 2021. Ed. Zdravje starostnikov / Health of the Elderly. Proceedings. Koper: University of Primorska Press.
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avje starostnikov | health of the elderly 72 technical services (MPE = 4.17, MSE = 4.36). The least important feature
was leisure activities (MPE = 1.98, MSE = 2.35). On average, it was more
important to informal carers that care recipients could use the tablet to
call family members or friends (MSE = 3.27, p < .05) than it was to care
recipients (MPE = 2.65). It was also more important for carers that the
tablet reminded care recipients to take their medications (MSE = 3.67)
than for care recipients (MPE = 2.94, p <.05). Discussion and conclusions:
This study contributes to a limited empirical evidence on the acceptance
and attitudes of older people and their informal carers in Slovenia
towards smart solutions in health and social care. Understanding their
perceptions of technology and needs can also help the developers of
such solutions, as well as the providers in the market, and support better
deployment of such smart solutions in health and social care.
Keywords: assistive technologies, technology acceptance, technology
attitudes, randomised control trial
Introduction
“Ageing in place”, i.e. enabling people to live in their homes and communities
for as long as possible, rather than in an institution, is the prevailing concept in
current ageing policy (Wiles et al., 2012). However, in most EU countries, this
concept is not sufficiently supported by social policies (Kröger et al., 2018) and
pressures on informal carers are high and increasing (Spasova et al., 2018). De-
spite differences in long-term care (LTC) systems, informal care accounts for
the majority of care hours in all European countries which is even more pro-
nounced with the rising number of people in need of care and the lack of ac-
cessible formal LTC services and personnel (Kröger et al., 2019; Spasova et al.,
2018). Despite these trends, in some countries, including Slovenia with its frag-
mented LTC system, the needs of informal carers are poorly met (Hlebec et al.,
2021), although Slovenian Active Ageing Strategy (Bednaš and Kajzer, 2018)
recognises the importance of improving support for informal carers and their
integration into the LTC system.
According to Slovenian Public Opinion Survey (SJM) 2021, 30.6 % of the
population (aged 18 and over) provide at least 4 hours of unpaid informal care
per week to a person aged 65 or over (Hafner-Fink et al., 2021; Dolničar et al.,
2021). This refers to the provision of personal care activities (ADL) and/or activ-
ities related to independent living (IADL) and/or emotional support. The pro-
portion of carers increases with age while they are still of working age (Tur-Si-
nai et al., 2020; Zigante, 2018), as also found in the Slovenian survey using an
Online Access Panel 2021 (Dolničar et al., 2021). The proportion of informal
carers of older people reported in these two Slovenian studies is significantly
higher than in some other studies (Eurofound, 2017; Eurostat, 2019; Tur-Sinai
et al., 2020). In 2013, 75.54 % of Slovenian people aged 65 years or older, who re-
ceived some type of care at home, received only informal care, 6.66 % received
only formal care, and 17.79 % received a combination of the two (Hlebec et al.,
was leisure activities (MPE = 1.98, MSE = 2.35). On average, it was more
important to informal carers that care recipients could use the tablet to
call family members or friends (MSE = 3.27, p < .05) than it was to care
recipients (MPE = 2.65). It was also more important for carers that the
tablet reminded care recipients to take their medications (MSE = 3.67)
than for care recipients (MPE = 2.94, p <.05). Discussion and conclusions:
This study contributes to a limited empirical evidence on the acceptance
and attitudes of older people and their informal carers in Slovenia
towards smart solutions in health and social care. Understanding their
perceptions of technology and needs can also help the developers of
such solutions, as well as the providers in the market, and support better
deployment of such smart solutions in health and social care.
Keywords: assistive technologies, technology acceptance, technology
attitudes, randomised control trial
Introduction
“Ageing in place”, i.e. enabling people to live in their homes and communities
for as long as possible, rather than in an institution, is the prevailing concept in
current ageing policy (Wiles et al., 2012). However, in most EU countries, this
concept is not sufficiently supported by social policies (Kröger et al., 2018) and
pressures on informal carers are high and increasing (Spasova et al., 2018). De-
spite differences in long-term care (LTC) systems, informal care accounts for
the majority of care hours in all European countries which is even more pro-
nounced with the rising number of people in need of care and the lack of ac-
cessible formal LTC services and personnel (Kröger et al., 2019; Spasova et al.,
2018). Despite these trends, in some countries, including Slovenia with its frag-
mented LTC system, the needs of informal carers are poorly met (Hlebec et al.,
2021), although Slovenian Active Ageing Strategy (Bednaš and Kajzer, 2018)
recognises the importance of improving support for informal carers and their
integration into the LTC system.
According to Slovenian Public Opinion Survey (SJM) 2021, 30.6 % of the
population (aged 18 and over) provide at least 4 hours of unpaid informal care
per week to a person aged 65 or over (Hafner-Fink et al., 2021; Dolničar et al.,
2021). This refers to the provision of personal care activities (ADL) and/or activ-
ities related to independent living (IADL) and/or emotional support. The pro-
portion of carers increases with age while they are still of working age (Tur-Si-
nai et al., 2020; Zigante, 2018), as also found in the Slovenian survey using an
Online Access Panel 2021 (Dolničar et al., 2021). The proportion of informal
carers of older people reported in these two Slovenian studies is significantly
higher than in some other studies (Eurofound, 2017; Eurostat, 2019; Tur-Sinai
et al., 2020). In 2013, 75.54 % of Slovenian people aged 65 years or older, who re-
ceived some type of care at home, received only informal care, 6.66 % received
only formal care, and 17.79 % received a combination of the two (Hlebec et al.,
