An increasing number of scholars have been recently exploring the role of factors that foster the adoption of different types of assistive technologies among older adults. Our study contributes to this field with a mixed-methods intervention study that combines a baseline and follow-up telephone survey with semi-structured interviews to evaluate the user experience and potentially identifies additional acceptance factors of e-care systems and relations among them. Different assistive technologies were tested and evaluated by three groups of participants: (1) older adults testing mobile and wearable devices and (2) informal carers who remotely monitored events recorded by e-care systems installed in the homes of (3) care receivers. The findings indicate heterogeneous needs and expectations these three groups have towards the use of e-care systems. Moreover, the results also unveil the fear of not getting help quickly in case of an emergency, and perception of safety and peace of mind as important predictors of the use of e-care systems among informal carers and care receivers. Indirectly, the results also reveal the importance of intervention and mixed methods design studies as a means of a more comprehensive understanding of acceptance factors of assistive technologies.
B.03 Paper at an international scientific conference
COBISS.SI-ID: 34992733In this study a theoretically and empirically supported model is introduced which consists of three stages of user involvement in the development of smart solutions for active and healthy ageing. The model draws upon a methodological shift towards inclusive and user-centered research design, involving end-users of information and communication technology-based smart solutions in all stages of research and development. We present in detail a case study in which this model is applied on older adults and their formal and informal caregivers as end-users of smart technologies. The discussed practical examples indicate that this model is robust and adaptable as well as that it can be tailored to specific research aims, including, for instance, a combination of qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methods.
B.03 Paper at an international scientific conference
COBISS.SI-ID: 34384733Due to the exponential growth of the elderly population, there is an urgent need for development of telecare solutions supporting informal caregiving which allow the elderly to remain independent and age at home. As usability of such solutions is crucial for effective use, we employed heuristic evaluation to assess the user interface of the newly developed mobile application for telecare – TeleStiki. Our aim was to provide guidelines for similar telecare solutions based on both existing research and results of heuristic evaluation. We noticed that, (among other criteria), many applications lack help for the users so it is necessary to include settings or a help button in applications. These guidelines may solve similar solutions in the future on how developers can improve user interfaces of telecare mobile applications and, consequently, improve user experience when supporting aging at home.
B.03 Paper at an international scientific conference
COBISS.SI-ID: 21567766As the segment of the population aged 65 years and over continues to grow, solutions/interventions are needed to ensure quality ageing. Although several solutions have been developed, there is a lack of sufficient tools designed intentionally for informal caregivers which would allow elderly people to remain independent in their own homes as long as possible. The aim of this study was to design the prototype of the mobile application which allows informal caregivers monitoring daily activities of elderly where data is received from remote sensors installed in elderly homes. The study comprises three phases: (i) review of related solutions; (ii) development of a prototype app for active ageing; and (iii) evaluation. The last phase consisted the evaluation procedure, where the User Experience Questionnaire has been used. Results revealed that the prototype of the application falls in the range of 10% of the best results when perspicuity, efficiency, dependability and novelty are considered.
B.03 Paper at an international scientific conference
COBISS.SI-ID: 20774422With increasing age and longevity, the needs for long-term care and thus informal care, will increase significantly in the coming decades. The use of eCare technologies has a huge potential in solving challenges related to demographic changes and decreased care potential. However little is known about the potential of eCare technologies in relation to psychological outcomes on informal carers. The scoping review based on Arksey & O'Malley framework, includes 16 studies published since 2013. Peer reviewed papers, written in English, investigating the use of eCare technologies in informal care and their psychological outcomes on informal carers, were included. Non-scientific studies, and studies which focused on psychological counselling or training through internet or phone, were excluded. The search was conducted in Academic search complete, Scopus, ProQuest and Science Direct in October 2017. We explored the psychological outcomes of eCare technologies on informal carers of older people. We identified three wider themes: a) peace of mind and reassurance of informal carers, b) positive psychological outcomes, burden and quality of life of informal carers while using eCare technologies, c) negative outcomes of technology on informal carers. The review also showed that monitoring devices were most reported eCare technologies in relation to positive psychological outcomes. Our study revealed a dearth of research on psychological outcomes of eCare technologies on informal carers. Informal carers of people with dementia were most frequently mentioned in selected studies, which can be due to the nature of the disease and its caring demands. Another open issue is whether positive psychological outcomes could be increased if informal carers’ needs, perspectives and issues would be more considered by ICT developers and designers. Nowadays, ICT designers concentrate their work mostly on the services’ functionalities and applications. The results show a strong connection between older peoples' safety and carers' peace of mind, which can be reached through eCare technology. Although there were some contradictions of outcomes across the studies, there is at least some evidence to support the use of eCare technologies in an effective approach in alleviating negative psychological outcomes (e.g. burden reduction, increased peace of mind of informal carers). A complete paper has been accepted for publication, but not yet published: Kaja Smole-Orehek, Simona Hvalič-Touzery, Andraž Petrovčič, Vesna Dolničar, Matjaž Debevc, Ines Kožuh. Psychological outcomes of eCare technologies use for informal carers: a scoping study. Gerontechnology (ISSN: 1569-1101).
B.03 Paper at an international scientific conference
COBISS.SI-ID: 35873629