Gerontechnology:
The importance of user
participation in ICT development
for older adults Heidi Bjering
Dr. Joanne Curry
Prof. Anthony Maeder
Telehealth Resesarch & Innovation Laboratory
School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics
University of Western Sydney
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Background
Ageing of society
Challenge
Gerontechnology
Designing for older adults
Designing with older adults
Where to now?
Outline
Image source: http://www.colaborar.fraunhofer.pt/en/news.php
Ageing Society: Australia to 2050: future challenges[1]:
Australia‟s population 65 years and over:
2010: 13%.
2050: expected 23%.
Decrease in available workforce:
2010: 5 people of working age per person 65 and over.
2050: expected 2.7 working age people per person 65 and over.
Background
http://archive.treasury.gov.au/igr/igr2010/report/html/02_Chapter_1_Economic_and_demographic.asp
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Health spending on the elderly population expected to
increase dramatically leading up to 2050 [1,3].
Strain on government services[2]:
Hospitals and health care services
Aged care facilities and services
Strain on the workforce
Graph: spending/expected
spending on different
categories as a
percentage of GDP
Background
http://archive.treasury.gov.au/igr/igr2010/report/html/05_Chapter_4_Ageing_pressures_and_spending.asp 4
Challenge:
Keep the elderly population healthy and out of hospitals
and aged care facilities for as long as possible
Strong need to investigate ways to keep the elderly
population healthy and living at home, including a focus
on preventative health programs
Reduce pressure on government services such
as hospitals and aged care facilities
Challenge
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Gerontechnology (also called Gerotechnology, Geron-Technology)
Late „80s/early „90s
Interdisciplinary
Draws on research and knowledge from both social sciences (gerontology) and technology – including, but not limited to, Information and Communications Technologies (ICT).
Gerontechnology
Technology Gerontology Gerontechnology
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Gerontechnology
Can be described as: “The study of technology and aging
for ensuring good health, full social participation, and
independent living throughout the entire lifespan” [10, 11].
The interaction between research on various
characteristics of ageing and using the possibilities
offered by the results of research and development of
technology [12].
Purpose: Consider and learn about the goals and desires of
older people, and then look for possibilities of technological
solutions to satisfy these goals and desires [11].
Gerontechnology
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Important for „aging in place‟
to stay independent is important for older people [11].
Older people can experience various declines as
they are ageing:
physical, perceptual and cognitive changes
Gerontechnology
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Gerontechnology
Gerontechnology’s “Five Ways”: Gerontechnology has as a goal to use technology to help counter declines, either in the form of prevention, by delaying the onset, to help compensate, or to help care for these types of issues. A fifth goal is to encourage more research in this area [10].
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Way Tasks Applications
Prevention &
Engagement
Monitor,
Intervene, teach healthy
habits.
Fall prevention,
nutrition, strength
training.
Enhancement &
Satisfaction
Support work & hobbies,
expand opportunities.
Virtual reality,
enhanced
communication.
Compensation
& Assistance
Make up for weakness,
loss. Support motor
activities.
Mobility aids,
robotic
equipment,
assistive tech.
Care Support &
Organization
Help move & lift.
Administer, monitor
meds.
Ergonomicallydesigned
equipment.
Research Analyze, measure
Physiological changes.
Medical imaging, non-
invasive
techniques. [ref: 14]
Domain of application Aim of gerontechnology
Health and Self-esteem
Support physical, cognitive,
emotional functions. Maintain
independence.
Housing and Daily
Living
Accomplish routine tasks
independently, safely, conveniently.
Mobility and Transport Provide ways to move, go places,
get around via car or public
transportation.
Communication and
Governance
Connect with others. Remotely
monitor health.
Work and Leisure Continue work. Engage in learning,
creative, and recreational activities.
Gerontechnology
Gerontechnology: 5 domains of application / daily life
To fulfil this goal, technology is applied to various domains of living, including health, housing, personal mobility and transportation, communication and work. There is also recognition of opportunities for technology to be applied in areas such as leisure, learning and self-fulfilment [10].
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[ref: 14]
Designing technology for the elderly is becoming
increasingly important in our society as we are currently
faced with two very strong trends –
1. An ageing society
2. An explosion in technology development, infiltrating every
part of our lives. As more and more of our society is relying
on technological solutions and services, the older
population is increasingly going to have to interact with this
type of technology [15].
Technology for older people
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Complex:
Age related declines
Varied experiences and backgrounds
Approaches used:
„Universal design‟ principles
Age specific design
Ideal font size
Target size and spacing
Good demand/capability fit
Good performance in usability test
BUT – this is not enough! - good performance does not
ensure that technology will be accepted and used
Designing for older people
Technology push demand-pull approach
Rodeschini[9]:....”elderly people are considered as receptors
of a predesigned, specific technology, and not as an active
part of a process”
We need to move away from looking at “technology‟s
technical potential”, to look at “the use of technology
by elderly people”
Necessitates working with the elderly
Designing for older people
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Some general issues:
Similarity assumption does not hold true (gap between younger
designers and older people)
Lack of common vocabulary and terms
Designers often have a lack of understanding of characteristics
of older people in general
Older people - a very diverse group
Varied backgrounds
Varied technology experience
Varied health status/history
Varying levels of age related declines
Designing with older people
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Specific issues found when involving older people
Difficulty in imagining new technology
Easily become disengaged and lose motivation and focus
Prototyping:
Low/High fidelity (conflicting findings)
Critique of screen design
Blame themselves rather than design if issues are encountered
Do not want to be negative, but give praise
Group breakdown
Sensitive issues can lead to disagreements
Fragile confidence
Designing with older people
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Designing with older people
Exploratory Requirements Design Design
Design
Progress has been slow in involving
elderly throughout the whole process of
technology creation from inception to
completion of the new product.
There is recognition that including older
adults in the process needs to be done,
but little literature available on how to
optimise this[16].
Testing
The focus has mainly been on how to optimise the
designs for the elderly
Elderly recruited as subjects in experiments
Mouse vs touchpad?
Best font size?
Guidelines available on how to best design for older people
given the implications of age related change
“This body of work does not look at how the designer should
adapt the design process itself when working with older
users” [17].
Designing with older people
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Need more projects reporting on experiences with
including older people as participants when developing
technology for older users
What worked well
What didn‟t work so well
Lessons learned
Develop a body of knowledge and best practices
guidelines for future projects
Where to now?
[1] Swan, W. and A.D.o.t. Treasury, Australia to 2050: future challenges. 2010, Department of the Treasury: Canberra.
[2] Morris, M., et al., Smart technologies for older people. 2012, Institute for a Broadband-Enabled Society, University of Melbourne.
[3] Walton, K., Strategies to improve the nutritional health of Australia's ageing population. Nutridate, 2012. 23(4): p. 5-7.
[4] Edfors, E. and A. Westergren, Home-Living Elderly People's Views on Food and Meals. Journal of Aging Research, 2012. 2012: p. 9.
[5] Watson, L., W. Leslie, and C. Hankey, Under-nutrition in old age: diagnosis and management. Reviews in Clinical Gerontology, 2006. 16(01): p. 23-34.
[6] Khandelwal, D., et al., Frailty is associated with longer hospital stay and increased mortality in hospitalized older patients. The journal of nutrition, health & aging, 2012: p. 1-4.
[7] Brownie, S. and R. Coutts, Older Australians' perceptions and practices in relation to a healthy diet for old age: A qualitative study. The journal of nutrition, health & aging, 2012: p. 1-5.
[8] NHMRC, Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand. 2005, Department of Health and Ageing.
[9] Rodeschini, G. (2011). Gerotechnology: A new kind of care for aging? An analysis of the relationship between older people and technology. Nursing & Health Sciences, 13(4), 521-528.
[10] Fozard, James, Rietsema, Jan , Bouma, Herman , & Graafmans, Jan AM. (2000). Gerontechnology: Creating enabling environments for the challenges and opportunities of aging. Educational Gerontology, 26(4), 331-344.
[11] Harrington, Thomas L, & Harrington, Marcia K. (2000). Gerontechnology: Why and how: Shaker Maastricht, The Netherlands.
[12] Micera, S., Bonato, P., & Tamura, T. (2008). Gerontechnology: Advanced Solutions for an Aging Society. Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine, IEEE, 27(4), 10-14. doi: 10.1109/memb.2008.925213
[13] Bouma, Herman, Fozard, James L, Bouwhuis, Don G, & Taipale, VT. (2007). Gerontechnology in perspective. Gerontechnology, 6(4), 190-216.
[14] Dara-Abrams, B. (2008, 14-16 Jan. 2008). Toward a Model for Collaborative Gerontechnology: Connecting Elders and Their Caregivers. Paper presented at the Creating, Connecting and Collaborating through Computing, 2008. C5 2008. Sixth International Conference on.
[15] Dickinson, A., Arnott, J., & Prior, S. (2007). Methods for human – computer interaction research with older people. Behaviour & Information Technology, 26(4), 343-352. doi: 10.1080/01449290601176948
[16] Newell, Alan, Arnott, John, Carmichael, Alex, & Morgan, Maggie. (2007). Methodologies for involving older adults in the design process Universal Acess in Human Computer Interaction. Coping with Diversity (pp. 982-989): Springer.
[17] Hawthorn, D. (2007). Interface design and engagement with older people. Behaviour & Information Technology, 26(4), 333-341. doi: 10.1080/01449290601176930
References
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Heidi Bjering
PhD Candidate
Telehealth Research & Innovation Laboratory
School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics
University of Western Sydney
Contact: [email protected]
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