Senior Care for Aging in Place: Balancing Assistance and Independence

Increasing demands for senior care raise the challenge of how to support independence in older adults while assisting their health management. Most seniors would like to age in place, but concerns about safety lead many to move to a place that can provide basic care support, such as a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC). CCRCs provide different care levels for seniors, from independent living to nursing home. In this paper we examine how independent residents of a CCRC manage their health through a series of self-care and collaborative care activities. We interviewed 18 independent residents and five staff members of a CCRC. We have found that their care involves both external monitoring and self-care, and self-tracking is an integral part of self-care. These different forms of care are interconnected and complimentary. However, negative connotations associated with aging limit their effectiveness. Examining how these care practices function could inform the design of technology for a broader population of seniors aging in place.