IU recruiting rural, senior residents for paid study on new aging-in-place technology

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana University researchers are seeking rural Indiana residents for a study focused on issues related to aging in place in rural communities.

The study will examine CareBand, a wearable dementia care device, and its functionality in rural areas. IU is seeking participants age 65 or older, living in their own homes. Participants do not need to have a dementia diagnosis, or any other medical condition, to apply. The duration of the study is six months, and participants will receive up to $20 per month during the study. The study requires participants to wear the CareBand device, be home approximately 75 percent of their time each week, and take part in short, monthly interviews with researchers. People who are interested in participating in the CareBand study should contact Lisa Butler at lbutler4@iu.edu or (812) 727-3095.

The  IU School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering is conducting this study in partnership with the IU Center for Rural Engagement. The information collected will inform current and new technologies that help older adults live healthy and safely at home in their rural communities.

Indiana University researchers have conducted several recent studies gathering feedback from residents of rural Indiana communities to better understand the thoughts and opinions of all Hoosiers, including a person-to-person health study, rural opioid response planning survey and several short questionnaires related to the Center for Rural Engagement’s Sustaining Hoosier Communities initiative.

The IU Center for Rural Engagement improves the lives of Hoosiers through collaborative initiatives that discover and deploy scalable and flexible solutions to common challenges facing rural communities. Working in full-spectrum community innovation through research, community-engaged teaching and student service, the center builds vision, harnesses assets and cultivates sustainable leadership structures within the communities with which it engages to ensure long-term success.