Engagement For Older Adults

RQ1: What is engagement for older adults in the use of technology?

The term for older adults’engagement has no clear criteria or definition. Amount of older adults who get a chance to use and experience technology is increasing. However, just as the values ​​and lifestyles established in childhood cannot be easily modified, older adults will not change the attitude of life that has been accumulated while living in an era when the use of technology was unfamiliar.Although the use of technology is not an essential element in the elderly life, it is true that the use of technology can improve the quality of life for older adults. As older adults age, the discomfort that comes from life can be largely resolved with the help of technology. It is important to evoke positive memories and emotions in older adults when using technology, however, as noted in Chapter 1.2 that a large percentage of the studies are still focusing on the practical part of technology. With this research question, we seek to propose a new direction of HCI research. We emphasize the necessity and importance of research on engagement in older adults, which we take for granted, but cannot find more research than we think, and therefore feel the need for various research.There is a lack of value or experience level established to understand Technology for older adults. It is far more important to give them an environment in which they can simply enjoy and have fun using technology rather than trying to inject new things into their established values. To answer this question, we seek to find a research gap through existing literature related to aging and technology, propose a theoretical framework, and lead a change in the perspective of older adults’engagement.

RQ 2: What are the factors influencing technology usage of older adults?

The spectrum to which an elderly individual experiences, learns, and utilizes technology varies widely. For example, among smartphone users, even though they are in their 80s, the interest in smartphones is very high, and while there are elderly people who use various functions without difficulty themselves. We can easily found older adults who use very limited function of smartphone, even in their 60s.  The range of use of smartphones among the younger generation is influenced by individual interests rather than individual ability to use smartphones. For example, it is more likely that college student who does not enjoy social media, not because they have difficulty learning how to use social media or lack of ability, but simply because they are not willing or interested in using it. However, even if the elderly are interested in using smartphone, the range in which the technology can be used may be limited due to psychological factors such as vague, fear, difficulty to use it, or because there is no willingness to learn. Also, unlike the younger generation, the use of technology may become more and more restricted for the elderly due to the many changes occurring as they grow older. To respond to this research question, we seek to study the spectrum of older adults’ behavior as they first encounter, use, and experience technology.

What are older adults’ reasons for using interactive technology? / What are the age-related characteristics while using interactive technologies? / What different actions and responses will the elderly show when they encounter a new technology?Based on these characteristics, can we identify the factors that influence the elderly’s use of technology?

To answer this question, we designed an embodied interactive system and a mobile system for the elderly, through these two systems, in-depth qualitative studies and user studies for the elderly and family members who maintain close relationships with the elderly are conducted.

RQ 3: How can empirical observations refocus the values that improve the potential for engaging older adults to adopt technology?

Many technologies are designed and developed for the elderly, and many researchers are still trying to find technological solutions that can improve the lives of the elderly. However, there is a question as to whether the elderly really accept the technology and use it well. As still many studies show, the elderly still feel frustration when using the new system. So, what are the potential ways to stimulate the elderly’s interest in technology? Our study is not an experiment carried out in a laboratory, and not presenting an unreliable response obtained after a short use. We seek to present empirical observations that refocus the values towards designs that improve the potential for engaging older adults to adopt technology. We investigate various cases of older adults in the use of new technology to answer these questions:  In what situations do older adults have a desire to use technology, who older adults want to use technology with, and why older adults have a desire to use technology?

The ultimate goal of research related to aging and technology is to use technology to promote lifestyle engagement, occupational engagement, health care engagement, or social engagement in older adults. To achieve this goal, many inventors, designers, and researchers in technology-related fields pay attention to finding tools and platforms, technological solutions for older adults. Most of the research for older adults is aimed at finding ways to increase their engagement with the life of older adults. Technology is used only as a means or methods to achieve this goal. Therefore, many studies are only interested in making better technologies; various types of technology such as Assistive technology, emerging technology, AR VR, positive technology, smart technology for older adults appeared.

Experts have no choice but to focus on technology development because it can achieve the goal of increasing engagement with older adult’s lives by making good technology and making it available to older adults. Therefore, the area of tools and platforms for older adults are getting bigger and better, but older adults who actively utilize or use technology are lacking. There are many elderly people who can’t even use cell phones or computers properly. Still, there is an uncanny distance between technology made by experts and older adults.

In order to increase engagement in life, research on older adults’ engagement with technology is needed, not just research in which technology is a tool. We look forward to reducing the gap between older adults and technology by increasing their engagement with technology use. This dissertation is a study on how to increase the engagement of older adults, what factors affect their technology usage, and the basic attitudes of older adults toward technology.The concept of older adults’ engagement using technology has not been established. We try to understand the concept of user engagement by citing O’Brien’s research on user engagement.