Abstract
Today, nearly one out of four households contain a family caregiver for someone over 50 years of age (MetLife, 2001). Nearly two-thirds of family caregivers work full or part-time, and over half of these caregivers report that they have had to make some sort of workplace accommodation, such as coming in late to work or leaving early, dropping back to part-time, turning down a promotion, choosing early retirement, or giving up work entirely to provide care. A key element in handling this explosion of the need for care is providing new products and services that allow individuals to cost effectively remain self-sufficient and continue to live in their own homes. Technology advances in sensors and communications has long promised to provide some of these capabilities. However, to date many of these needs remain unmet. We explore several dimensions of this issue looking at obstacles to technology insertion as well as the multiple motivators advocating solutions. We review a taxonomy of several systems that have been deployed into the market space and assess new trends. We conclude with recommendations for research that will drive the development of these enabling technologies.