Barriers in acceptance of ambient assisted living technologies among older Australians

One of the great challenges facing Australian society is the ageing population. Amongst various issues involved in this drastic demographic change, the most significant aspect is the demand for older Australians to be able to live independently at home. One of the things done to address these issues is the development of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) technologies. However, the optimum uptake of these technologies among the end-users (the elderly Australians) still remains a big concern. This aim of this study is to investigate the barriers and perceptions in the use of AAL applications amongst older Australians. Focus groups, and quantitative surveys have been conducted to provide the detailed analysis of these impediments. The results show that there are different factors that restrict the use of these technologies and elderly people have certain preferences when using the technology. An understanding of these barriers is gained to provide solutions according to user needs