FAMILIARITY, ACCEPTANCE, AND EASE OF USE IN COMMUNICATIONS AND MONITORING TECHNOLOGIES THAT FACILITA

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FAMILIARITY, ACCEPTANCE, AND EASE OF USE IN
COMMUNICATIONS AND MONITORING TECHNOLOGIES THAT
FACILITATE HEALTHY AGING IN PLACE Caitlyn
DeMars, undergraduate in Interior Design and
Housing Studies Mentor Dr. Atiya Mahmood,
Assistant Professor of Housing StudiesCenter for
Healthy Aging Research and Department of Design
and Human Environment, Oregon State University,
USA Funding Center for Healthy Aging Research,
Oregon State University

• Focus and Background
• FOCUS
• Understand older adults and caregivers
  perception of gerotechnology to gain insight into
  how these technologies may support caregiving
  roles and facilitate healthy and safe aging in
  place.
• BACKGROUND
• 85 of people over 75 years old prefer to stay
  in their own home for life 1
• 10.5 million older Americans live alone and
  this number will drastically increase as the baby
  boomer
• generation reaches the age of 65
• Older adults have significantly improved
  quality of life, social connectedness to
  family/friends and
• fewer health-care complaints when they are
  able to safely age-in-place 3
• Current home environment situation
• - Most residences are not designed for
  aging in place
• - They do not accommodate the changing
  physical, cognitive, and social needs of older
  adults
• - Many older adults who continue to reside
  in their homes often need assistance with daily
  activities
• Current caregiving situation
• - Most assistance for older adults is provided by
  informal/family caregivers
• - There are an estimated 44 million caregivers in
  the U.S., 79 caring for older adults, 83 family
  caregivers

• Consistent Findings
• Older Adults
• They are willing to learn and use new technology
  if it helps them age in place
• Assistive technologies are positively viewed if
  they help OAs achieve things they cannot do on
  their own, or if it increases their health and
  safety
• Most older adults who trialed gerotechnologies
  rated the devices as somewhat to very
  beneficial
• Older adults usually need to experience the
  technology to realize its importance otherwise
  there will be lack of perceived need
• The main deterrents include price, lack of
  knowledge regarding what is available, and lack
  of training on how to use the device
• Privacy is NOT a main concern
• The willingness to use devices exceeds awareness
  for each item
• OAs will require assistance installing the
  devices and a 24hr help line to encourage
  continued use of the device
• Caregivers
• The majority have positive attitudes and
  experiences with gerotechnology
• Caregivers are most drawn to devices that make
  the recipient feel safer, provides the caregiver
  with a peace of mind, and saves the caregiver and
  recipient money
• They have greatest appreciation for devices that
  advance their knowledge about caregiving as well
  as provide a respite from their responsibilities
• The biggest perceived barrier is cost and the
  concern for stigmatizing the person he/she helps
• Monitoring systems reduce some burden and stress,
  provides caregivers with positive feelings
  regarding their duties, and encourages them to
  seek emotional support
• Online support groups were continually found to
  be beneficial\

Research Questions The research questions that
guided this review included, but was not limited
to 1. Of which technologies are older
adults and caregivers aware? -How
do the older adults/caregivers become aware of
these technologies? 2. Would older
adults/caregivers be willing to use these devices
if available? -What inhibits older
adults/caregivers from adopting these
technologies? -What factors
contribute to technology receptivity by the older
adult/caregiver? -What factors
lead to the success or failure to telehealth
implementation in a hospice setting?
3. Is home surveillance ethical?
- Are older adults willing to give up their
privacy for safety? If yes, to what extent? If
no, why not? 4. Are the older
adults/caregivers satisfied with the technologies
they use? -How do these
technologies affect the caregivers burden and
stress?
Definition of Gerotechnology Gerotechnology is
described as an emerging field that focuses on
the development of instruments, devices, and
ideas that implement technology for the benefit
of older adults and caregiver. The term is
often used interchangeably with assistive
technology and gerontechnology.
Older Adults and Cargivers
Mirabella Portland, OR

• Future Research
• Gerotechnology is a young field of study and it
  requires more development in order to understand
  all its benefits and shortcomings for those it
  strives to assist. Aside from developing new
  technologies, it is imperative to fully
  understand older adults needs and preferences in
  order to adapt current technologies to meet their
  needs
• Suggested Directions
• How can the technologies/devices be made
  user-friendly for older adults
• What is considered user-friendly
• What factors contribute to successful or failed
  adoption of the technology for both the care
  recipient and the caregiver
• How can educators help health professionals
  overcome their incorrect assumptions
• Which avenues are most effective in educating
  older adults and caregivers about the benefits
  these technologies have
• Regarding videophones how can virtual visits be
  structured to lower anxiety and improve the
  quality or caregiving for both the caregiver and
  the recipient how can research be integrated
  into care delivery in supportive rather than
  burdensome ways
• Regarding monitoring systems how can we
  introduce these kinds of systems within an
  industry that has been based overwhelmingly on
  face-to-face human contact? What appropriate
  guidelines should be developed?

• Method Literature Review
• Literature Collection
• Keyword search of online databases and manual
  searches of relevant journals, magazines, and
  newspaper articles
• Categories of Data Collection
• Older Adults (OA)
  b) Caregivers
• - Empirical or Non-Empirical
  -
  Empirical Formal and Informal
• - Focused on OAs
  
  - Non-Empirical Formal and
  Informal
• - attitudes towards certain technologies
  
  - Focused on caregivers
• - reactions during the trials
  
  - perceptions and
  receptivity of gerotechnology
• - obstacles that prevented adoption
  of the technology
  - which technologies were of interest and
  why
• - and major and consistent findings
  
  - personal determinants for the
  successful or failed adoption
• 
  
  - effects on
  caregiver stress and burden
• Literature Review Format
• Empirical articles follow this format focus of
  article, research design, sample information and
  site, findings, and implications of findings
• Non-Empirical articles follow this format focus
  of article, type of healthcare facility,
  recommendations, and findings
• Databases
• Ageline (AARP), Medline, EBSCOhost, Worldcat,
  CINAHL, Health Source Nursing/Academic Edition

Table 1 Older Adults Descriptive Data

• References
• American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)
  (2003). Housing preferences of older adults.
  Washington, DC AARP.
• 2) Tilson, D. (Ed.) (1989). Aging in place
  Supporting the frail elderly in residential
  environments. Glenview, IL Scott, Foresman
  Company
• 3) Zarit, S. H., Reever, K. E., Bach-Peterson,
  J. (1980). Relatives of the impaired elderly
  Correlates of feelings of burden,
  Gerontologist, 20(6), 649-655.
• 5) Dishman, E. (2003). Designing for the new old
  Asking, observing, and performing future elders,
  In B. Laurel Ed.), Design research Methods and
  perspective (pp. 41-48). Cambridge, MA MIT
  Press.
• 6) Dishman, E. Matthews, J. Dunbar-Jacob, J.
  (2003). Everyday health Technology for
  adaptive aging, In R. W. Pew S. B. Van Hemel
  (Eds.), Technology for adaptive aging
  (pp.179-208). Washington, DC The National
  Academy Press.

Fig. 1 Percentage of Older Adults Living Alone
Fig. 2 Caregiver Stress Index