Seniors' Use of Digital Resources
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Item Rethinking Wearable Activity Trackers as Assistive Technologies: A Qualitative Study on Long-Term Use(2021-01-05) Li, Lin; Peng, Wei; Kononova, Anastasia; Kamp, Kendra; Cotten, SheliaThis study proposes that wearable activity trackers (WATs), such as Fitbit, Apple Watch, can be viewed as assistive technologies to promote older adults’ health and independent living. Qualitative interview data with 20 older adults (65 and older) who had used WATs for six months or longer were analyzed within the framework of the Match Person and Technology (MPT) model. We found that personal and psychosocial factors, environmental factors, and technology-related factors contributed to the participants’ long-term engagement with WATs. Determination and self-discipline, support from one’s family members and friends, and goal setting and feedback of goal accomplishment were among the most mentioned facilitators of using WATs for more than six months. We discussed the design implications of these findings.Item Older Adults' Use of Online Neighborhood Social Networks: Perceptions, Challenges and Effects(2021-01-05) Vogel, Pascal; Grotherr, Christian; Von Mandelsloh, Franziska; Gaidys, Uta; Böhmann, TiloOnline social networks (OSNs) have demonstrated potential for enabling older adults to remain socially connected and for counteracting social isolation and loneliness. With older adults preferring to age in place, their local community and neighborhood gain in importance. Online neighborhood social networks (ONSNs) are a novel type of OSN aimed at connecting local communities by facilitating social interaction, information sharing and peer support among neighbors. With a focus on trust and privacy, local relevance and integration with local organizations and institutions, they might be particularly well suited for the needs of older adults. We investigate the relationship between older adults and ONSNs by analyzing usage data, an online survey and interviews with users of an ONSN active in two urban neighborhoods in Germany. Our findings show that the case ONSN was successful in facilitating communication between neighbors and in promoting participation in community life for older adults.Item MeshSOS: An IoT Based Emergency Response System(2021-01-05) Jain, Bhavye; Trivedi, Kaustubh; Agarwal, Swati; Thakur, RahulDue to the limited mobility and technical knowledge, senior and disabled citizens of the society face difficulties during emergencies. Most hardware/software emergency assistance/response systems available in the market have a complex user interface even for the general public. Requesting help using these systems requires sharing information such as type and location of the event, which wastes precious time to respond to the event. Often, citizens end up handling the event themselves instead of waiting for someone to arrive at the event location. Hence, it is necessary to design a simple but incredibly robust system which bypasses the challenges of traditional emergency response systems. In this paper, we propose an Internet of Things (IoT) based mesh-enabled emergency response system called MeshSOS, which enables senior and disabled citizens to get assistance by simply pressing a button. Use of mesh networking along with WiFi made our system robust to network failures. We have also developed a central monitoring application for healthcare and security agencies to handle emergency events proactively. Initial field experiments and simulations show that our system has the potential to improve the robustness and response time in an energy and cost-efficient manner.Item Implementing Electric Consent Aimed at People Living with Dementia and Their Caregivers: Did We Forget Those Who Forget?(2021-01-05) O' Connor, Yvonne; Twohig, Ian; O'Brien, LeonaAs policy flows down from law/regulation (e.g. GDPR) and/or individual privacy concerns give rise to demands on improving accessibility, awareness and comprehension, the topic of electronic consent (or eConsent) is becoming more prevalent. We provide a critical voice by considering, but also challenging, the underlying assumptions that the status quo of eConsent design and implementation is appropriate for all people in society. While on-going efforts are focusing on enhancing the eConsent process, there is still room for improvement. The “one size fits all” ethos is not applicable in every context. This paper makes us aware of the different ethical, legal, social and technical implications of ICT use by senior citizens and provides an opportunity to create discourse in this area. It argues that future research examining the effectiveness of innovative ICTs must take the eConsent process into account.Item Introduction to the Minitrack on Seniors' Use of Digital Resources(2021-01-05) Vogel, Doug; Gewald, Heiko; Bozan, Karoly