Contemplating what I would do if someone got in my house: intentions of older homebound women living alone.

There is little research guiding interventions to help old homebound women prepare to manage an intrusion event. During a phenomenological study of the experience of reaching help quickly, I compared intentions during a possible intrusion event for 9 women subscribing to a personal emergency response system and 5 nonsubscribers. The phenomenon of contemplating what I would do if an intruder got in my home had 4 components. Only 2 personal emergency response system subscribers voiced the definitive intention to use the personal emergency response system. Findings underpin a new empirical perspective of competence grounded in situations relevant to living alone at home rather than specific tasks of daily living.