What facilitates the acceptance of technology to promote social participation in later life? A systematic review

Social connectedness and the role of virtual reality: experiences and perceptions of people living with dementia and their caregivers

PURPOSE

People living with dementia are often at increased risk of becoming socially disconnected due to dementia-related challenges. In recent years, digital technology has been designed to help address the social health of people living with dementia and provide opportunities to promote or maintain their social connectedness. This paper presents the findings from phase two of a participatory action research project, which explored people living with dementia and their caregiver's experiences and perceptions of social connectedness and the potential role of Virtual Reality (VR) in promoting or maintaining same.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

People living with dementia (n = 8) and their informal caregivers (n = 8) participated in an individual, 1:1 online interview. Data analysis was guided by reflexive thematic analysis.

RESULTS

The findings presented four themes: social connectedness: lived experiences and insights, facilitating social connectedness, barriers to social connectedness and the potential of multi-user VR for social connectedness. People living with dementia experienced a range of personal, community and societal connectedness. Facilitators of social connectedness included supportive, non-judgemental, and reciprocal relationships, technology adoption, and personal and contextual facilitators. Dementia-related difficulties and periods of disruption or change were considered barriers to social connectedness. Multi-user VR was perceived as useful for promoting and maintaining social connectedness.

CONCLUSIONS

The perceived usefulness of multi-user VR for social connectedness indicates its potential for use with this population. Understanding the lived experiences, barriers, and facilitators of social connectedness will assist researchers and the human-computer interaction community to inform the design of future multi-user VR for social connectedness outcomes with people living with dementia and their caregivers.

Sex and gender differences in social participation among community-dwelling older adults: a systematic review

Background

Frequent social participation among older adults is associated with greater health. Although understanding how sex and gender influence social participation is important, particularly in developing sex-inclusive health promotion and preventive interventions, little is known about factors influencing engagement of older women and men in social activities.

Aim

This study thus aimed to examine factors influencing social activities of older women and men.

Methods

A mixed-method systematic review was conducted in nine electronic databases from inception to March 2023. The studies had to define social participation as activities with others and examine its influencing factors among community-dwelling older women and men. Data were analyzed using convergent synthesis design from a socio-ecological perspective.

Results

Forty-nine studies, comprising 42 quantitative, five qualitative and two mixed method design were included. Themes identified concerned: (a) sociodemographic factors, (b) personal assets, (c) interpersonal relationships and commitments, (d) physical environment, and (e) societal norms and gender expectations. The findings identified the heterogeneous needs, preferences and inequalities faced by older women and men, considerations on sociocultural expectations and norms of each gender when engaging in social activities, and the importance of having adequate and accessible social spaces. Overall, this review identified more evidence on factors influencing social participation among women than in men.

Conclusion

Special attention is needed among community care providers and healthcare professionals to co-design, implement or prescribe a combination of sex and gender-specific and neutral activities that interest both older women and men. Intersectoral collaborative actions, including public health advocates, gerontologists, policymakers, and land use planners, are needed to unify efforts to foster social inclusion by creating an age-friendly and sustainable healthy environment. More longitudinal studies are required to better understand social participation trajectories from a sex and gender perspective and identify factors influencing it.

Systematic reviews registration

http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO, identifier [CRD42023392764].

Characteristics and Range of Reviews About Technologies for Aging in Place: Scoping Review of Reviews

BACKGROUND

It is a contemporary and global challenge that the increasing number of older people requiring care will surpass the available caregivers. Solutions are needed to help older people maintain their health, prevent disability, and delay or avoid dependency on others. Technology can enable older people to age in place while maintaining their dignity and quality of life. Literature reviews on this topic have become important tools for researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and decision makers who need to navigate and access the extensive available evidence. Due to the large number and diversity of existing reviews, there is a need for a review of reviews that provides an overview of the range and characteristics of the evidence on technology for aging in place.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to explore the characteristics and the range of evidence on technologies for aging in place by conducting a scoping review of reviews and presenting an evidence map that researchers, policy makers, and practitioners may use to identify gaps and reviews of interest.

METHODS

The review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews). Literature searches were conducted in Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus using a search string that consisted of the terms "older people" and "technology for ageing in place," with alternate terms using Boolean operators and truncation, adapted to the rules for each database.

RESULTS

A total of 5447 studies were screened, with 344 studies included after full-text screening. The number of reviews on this topic has increased dramatically over time, and the literature is scattered across a variety of journals. Vocabularies and approaches used to describe technology, populations, and problems are highly heterogeneous. We have identified 3 principal ways that reviews have dealt with populations, 5 strategies that the reviews draw on to conceptualize technology, and 4 principal types of problems that they have dealt with. These may be understood as methods that can inform future reviews on this topic. The relationships among populations, technologies, and problems studied in the reviews are presented in an evidence map that includes pertinent gaps.

CONCLUSIONS

Redundancies and unexploited synergies between bodies of evidence on technology for aging in place are highly likely. These results can be used to decrease this risk if they are used to inform the design of future reviews on this topic. There is a need for an examination of the current state of the art in knowledge on technology for aging in place in low- and middle-income countries, especially in Africa.

Preparing for aging: Understanding middle-aged user acceptance of AI chatbots through the technology acceptance model

Background

Preparing for aging with personalized technology is crucial due to the growing elderly population. Artificial Intelligence (AI), notably AI chatbots in healthcare, has transformed technology by simulating human-like conversations. Research on middle-aged adults' acceptance of AI chatbots is limited. Assessing middle-aged individuals' intentions to use AI is vital for enhancing AI competency among the elderly and guiding future interventions.

Objective

This study aims to explore the acceptance of middle-aged individuals toward AI chatbots and influencing factors and verify the usability of Technology Acceptance Model 2 (TAM2) in the use of AI technology in middle-aged people, also to inspire the design of future intelligent systems and online interventions for improving the health and well-being of the aging population.

Methods

A cross-sectional design and snowball sampling method were utilized to conduct an online questionnaire survey among middle-aged adults. The questionnaire was compiled based on TAM2 and was created using the online survey platform. SPSS 26.0 software was used for statistical analysis.

Results

A total of 259 valid questionnaires were included in the final data analysis. The study reported the Cronbach's α of 0.94 for the questionnaire. We found that perceived ease of use, subjective norm, and user image significantly influence users' intention to use AI chatbots. Notably, perceived usefulness emerged as a complete mediator in the relationship between subjective norm and intention to use, highlighting its central role in shaping user perceptions. The study also revealed a moderate acceptance level among middle-aged adults, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions.

Conclusions

This study emphasized the importance of customizing AI technology to improve its adoption among middle-aged adults, providing valuable guidance for developers and policymakers. The findings indicated the need for effective aging preparation that includes technological competency, suggesting that future planning should encompass comprehensive preparations for aging to enhance AI competency among the middle-aged population.

Changes in Community-Dwelling Elderly's Activity and Participation Affecting Depression during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

We determined the changes in the activity or participation of the community-dwelling elderly in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic and identified the activities leading to depression. This will allow us to evaluate rehabilitation interventions that can be used to minimize or eliminate the negative impact of COVID-19 on today's community-dwelling elderly. Herein, demographics, activity or participation (Activity Card Sort-Japan version: ACS-JPN), the number of social networks (Lubben Social Network Scale: LSNS), and depression (Geriatric Depression Scale: GDS) were examined in 74 community-dwelling elderly in Japan from August to October 2020. A statistical analysis was conducted to determine the effect of demographics on GDS, LSNS, and ACS-JPN, to compare the activity retention rates of the four domains using ACS-JPN, and to extract the activities that might affect depression using a generalized linear model. The results show that the retention of leisure activity with a high physical demand (H-leisure) and sociocultural activities was significantly lower than instrumental activities of daily living and leisure activity with a low physical demand (L-leisure). L-leisure and the number of social networks were possible risk factors for depression during the pandemic. This study highlighted the importance of maintaining the number of L-leisure and social networks at home to prevent depression in community-dwelling elderly when they could not perform outdoor activities and direct interpersonal interaction.

The role of knowledge management and sharing in cooperatives practices toward National Economic Recovery in the COVID-19 pandemic era

The National Economic Recovery (NER) Program is one of the responses initiated by the government in Indonesia's economic recovery due to the impact of COVID-19, the target is to reduce the activities of affected communities, including cooperatives. One of the priority aspects for the program to run well and smoothly is the role of institutions in knowledge management and process sharing. This paper examines the role of knowledge management and sharing in cooperatives with qualitative limitations at the knowledge process level, knowledge design level, strategic interaction level, social participation level, academic and scientific ecosystem level, and network and partnership level. A qualitative description becomes a research method with secondary data in the form of a comparison of cooperatives in 2019-2021 as a representation before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 secondary data for 20 months from April 2020 to September 2022 in Indonesia dynamically also support sharpening the analysis. The source of cooperative data is from the publications of the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, while the source of COVID-19 data comes from the publication of the COVID-19 Task Force. The analysis is carried out by building qualitative aspects into quantitative ones that can be formulated in the form of cooperative applications. The result is that the application of the knowledge process level, knowledge design level, strategic interaction level, social participation level, academic and scientific ecosystem level, and network and partnership level can improve decision-making, capture, share, and measure institutional knowledge for the success of the NER Program.

SAT: a methodology to assess the social acceptance of innovative AI-based technologies

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present the conceptual model of an innovative methodology (SAT) to assess the social acceptance of technology, especially focusing on artificial intelligence (AI)-based technology.

Design/methodology/approach

After a review of the literature, this paper presents the main lines by which SAT stands out from current methods, namely, a four-bubble approach and a mix of qualitative and quantitative techniques that offer assessments that look at technology as a socio-technical system. Each bubble determines the social variability of a cluster of values: User-Experience Acceptance, Social Disruptiveness, Value Impact and Trust.

Findings

The methodology is still in development, requiring further developments, specifications and validation. Accordingly, the findings of this paper refer to the realm of the research discussion, that is, highlighting the importance of preventively assessing and forecasting the acceptance of technology and building the best design strategies to boost sustainable and ethical technology adoption.

Social implications

Once SAT method will be validated, it could constitute a useful tool, with societal implications, for helping users, markets and institutions to appraise and determine the co-implications of technology and socio-cultural contexts.

Originality/value

New AI applications flood today’s users and markets, often without a clear understanding of risks and impacts. In the European context, regulations (EU AI Act) and rules (EU Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy) try to fill this normative gap. The SAT method seeks to integrate the risk-based assessment of AI with an assessment of the perceptive-psychological and socio-behavioural aspects of its social acceptability.

Strategies and actions to enable meaningful family connections in nursing homes during the COVID-19: A Scoping Review

OBJECTIVES

To better understand the impact of visitor restrictions on nursing home residents and their families as well as strategies and actions that were conducted in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

A scoping review was carried out in October 2020. Several electronic databases were used: Cochrane Plus, Scopus, Web of Sciences and PubMed. 725 results were identified. We included 10 articles.

RESULTS

Thematic analysis obtained the following categories: the impact of COVID-19 on nursing home residents' lives and their families, procedures and frameworks of nursing homes during and after lockdown, and solutions and resources implemented by health care professionals to improve the connection between older people and their families.

CONCLUSIONS

Visitor restrictions have a high impact on the health and well-being of older adults' and their families. The main strategies and solutions employed to reduce social isolation and facilitate the communication between older adults' and their families were the use of information and communication technologies, family support groups, and the assignment of reference staff to each family.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

The strategies and solutions mentioned should be internationally considered by health care providers in nursing homes to improve connections between family and older adults.

Perspectives on assistive technology among older Norwegian adults receiving community health services

INTRODUCTION

The western world is seeking increased implementation of assistive technology (AT) to meet the challenges of an ageing population. The objective of this study is to explore perspectives on AT use among home-dwelling older adults with or without cognitive impairment.

METHODS

This study combines findings from a cross-sectional study with a questionnaire package (n = 83) and from qualitative individual interviews (n = 7) and is part of a larger study, the Assisted Living Project. Combining methods promotes complementary inquiries into a phenomenon.

RESULTS

The participants already use ATs: TVs, social alarms, mobile phones, stove timers, electronic medical dispensers, PCs and tablet computers. They were both optimistic and skeptical of AT, and expressed different perspectives and expressed different perspectives on ATs in relation to usability, privacy and fear of losing personal face-to-face care.

CONCLUSIONS

This study reveals that older adults' perspectives on AT are multifaceted and complex, and can partly be explained by the interacting factors in the HAAT model: person, technology, environment, and context. Further exploration in relation to older adults with health challenges, as well as ethical perspectives on AT implementation, is required for this group.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

The Norwegian Research Council, Number 47996, funds the Assisted Living Project (ALP).IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONThe study was useful in order to inform the health care services about older adults "perspectives on assistive technology".This study reveals the complexity of understanding perspectives towards and the use of assistive technology among older adults with or without cognitive impairment.This study contributes to the understanding of the interactions between the four components: humans, activities, technology and the context.