[Aids in general daily activities can hardly replace professional home care. Results of a study among single 75-year-olds or older].

: In this study we have examined for which ADL and mobility activities simple technical aids, including housing adaptations, can replace formal home care. A representative group of 498 single, independently living elderly persons, aged 75 years or older, were interviewed orally. Many elderly interviewees (81.5%) had difficulties performing instrumental activities of daily living. Approximately one third of them received professional home care. We did not include technical aids for household activities in our study, since the distinction between technical aids and consumer products is unclear, and it was impossible to include all consumer products in our study. About 20% of the 120 elderly persons who had difficulties with personal care, received home care, especially in dressing and bathing. Only 5% of the elderly people with mobility problems (N = 208) got home care for mobility activities; most of them used technical aids or informal helpers. This means that stimulation of more mobility aids will not decrease the need for home care. Technical aids are very important for elderly people, but there are hardly any possibilities for replacing home care by the implementation of more technical aids.