(PERS) alarms have been used in Sweden since 1974 to enable older people to age safely at home. Despite this long use, we found no studies describing independent older users’ opinions of these devices.

Aim Our aim was to describe how people living in Swedish independent senior housing perceive the alarms and to highlight their wishes for further developments and innovations.

Methods We conducted five focus group interviews with residents of senior housing who used or had used a PERS alarm and analysed the data qualitatively for latent content.

Results The data analysis revealed five themes in participants’ opinions and feelings about the PERS alarms: (i) safety, (ii) anxiety, (iii) satisfaction, (iv) being informed, and (v) older persons as active innovators.

Conclusion The 40-year-old Swedish PERS used in senior housing seems to limit rather than liberate users in their daily lives and cause feelings of insecurity rather than security. Older Swedish people require a more personalized alarm with a built-in positioning system that would allow them a greater range of movement beyond their homes.

BACKGROUND: As they age, older persons prefer to continue to live in their own homes. Sensors in the environment and/or bodily worn systems that monitor people might contribute to an increased sense of safety and security at home, but also raise concerns about the loss of privacy by surveillance. Little is known about how older persons, living at home independently and stating good health, perceive monitoring technology in terms of personal privacy.

OBJECTIVE: to identify and describe how older persons, perceive monitoring technology in terms of personal privacy.

METHOD: A qualitative study based on five focus group interviews was used. Concepts of "freedom" and "surveillance" were used as content areas in the data analysis.

RESULTS: The results comprised three categories of ambivalence; "independence vs. security", "privacy vs. intrusion", and "in the best interest of me vs. in the best interest of others". These three categories merged into the overarching theme "maintaining a sense of self" which illustrates a desire to maintain control of one's life as long as possible.

CONCLUSIONS: Older persons generally have positive feelings and attitudes toward technology and strive to maintaining a sense of self as long as possible, by having control. They stated high value to privacy, but valued being watched over if it ensured security. To feel good and bad about monitoring technologies, rather than good or does not necessarily lead to feelings of conflict.

Purpose: The concept of security is related to the experience of health but has ever so often been argued from a risk perspective rather than from a promotional perspective. The experience of older persons’ sense of security in private homes and in nursing homes seems to be missing when it comes to promote aging well throughout the life span. This study aimed to describe and analyze factors related to the sense of security of older persons receiving care in nursing homes in Sweden. Design and Methods: The study was based on a questionnaire from a total of 495 persons aged ≥ 65 in private homes (n = 350) or nursing homes (n = 145) in Sweden. Results: Secure relationships, sense of control, and perceived health were significantly related to the subjects’ sense of security. No significant relationships were found between sense of security and having a personal emergency response alarm. Implications: Experience of sense of security from the older person perspective differs depending on the context. To promote the sense of security within the care of older persons, methods on how to establish secure relations as well as the sense of control and knowledge need to be further tested, developed and analyzed together with older persons.

Sense of security is important throughout the lifespan not at least in advanced age with increased risks of functional declines and decreased social capital. Despite this, knowledge concerning older person’s perceptions and experiences of sense of security when moving into nursing homes is scarce. This study is a longitudinal, descriptive, exploratory case study with in-depth interviews and observations of three older persons in the age of 87, 88, and 91 years in a mid-sized municipality in the south of Sweden, in order to highlight how sense of security is experienced when moving into and living in a nursing home. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis, which resulted in one main theme and four categories. The main theme, ‘Adaptation and sense of security’, indicates older persons’ need to adapt to the new context of the nursing home, and how this relates to their sense of security. The categories – ‘Control’, ‘Struggling for understanding’, ‘Lack of influence’, and ‘Grasping’ – suggest that older persons’ sense of security is reduced when they must adjust to routines without sufficient management and understanding. When able to maintain control over daily routines, and felt as a part of the new context, they perceived a sense of security.

Trygghet är viktigt genom hela livet, inte minst som äldre med tilltagande funktionedsättningar. Kunskap behövs gällande äldre personers uppfattning av trygghet i flytt från ordinärt till särskilt boende. Syftet med studien var att öka förståelsen av hur äldre personer med skiftande omsorgsbehov uppfattar och erfar trygghet, i flytt från ordinärt till särskilt boende. En explorativ fallstudie med intervjuer och observation av tre äldre personer i åldrarna 87, 88 och 91 år genomfördes över en tidsperiod på 3 -4 månader; före flytten till särskilt boende; 3 -5 dagar efter flytt; 2 -4 veckor efter flytt då genomförandeplanen ägde rum och slutligen efter 12 -16 veckor efter flytt. Vid varje intervjutillfälle användes samma fokusområden och följdfrågor. Kvalitativ innehållsanalys användes för att analysera datamaterialet, vilket resulterade i ett huvudtema och fyra kategorier. Huvudtemat indikerar äldre personer genom hela flyttprocessen behöver anpassa sig till den nya miljön på särskilt boende för att uppleva trygghet. Anpassning till de nya rutinerna gav visserligen struktur i vardagen och uppfattades som en säkerhet, men inte nödvändigtvis som trygghet. Då de äldre personerna kunde behålla kontrollen och kunskapen över dagliga rutiner, och kände sig som en del av den nya sammanhang uppfattas de en känsla av trygghet.