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Ethical issues in the use of fall detectors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 February 2011

MICHELLE GANYO ,
MICHAEL DUNN  and
TONY HOPE
MICHELLE GANYO
Affiliation:
Health Science Center, Texas A&M College of Medicine, USA.
MICHAEL DUNN*
Affiliation:
The Ethox Centre, University of Oxford, UK.
TONY HOPE
Affiliation:
The Ethox Centre, University of Oxford, UK.
*
Address for correspondence: Michael Dunn, The Ethox Centre, University of Oxford, Old Road Campus, Headington, Oxford OX3 7LF, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Fall detectors are a form of remote monitoring assistive technology that have the potential to enhance the wellbeing of adults at risk from falling. In this paper, the ethical issues raised by the use of fall detectors are examined. The fall detection devices currently available are outlined, and a summary of how these devices require social-care services, or family carers, to respond in particular ways, is provided. The ethical issues associated with the use of fall detectors are classified under four headings: autonomy, privacy, benefit, and the use of resources. These issues, we argue, arise out of the nature of the technology itself, and the way that this technology is integrated into the day-to-day support package of the person for whom it is provided. It is argued that manufacturers have a duty to provide information about the ‘ethical side-effects’ associated with the use of a particular device, and that the process of making a decision to provide a person with a fall detector should include a checklist of questions that is designed to enable decision makers to work through the ethical issues raised.

Keywords

fallsfall detectorsassistive technologytelecareethicsprivacyautonomy
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 31 , Issue 8 , November 2011 , pp. 1350 - 1367
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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