The Usability Study of a Proposed Environmental Experience Design Framework for Active Ageing

Environmental conditions, mobile digital culture, mobile usability, knowledge of app in COVID-19 risk mitigation: A structural equation model analysis

INTRODUCTION

The mobile digital culture (MDC) supports individual lives, communities, and real-time organizational surveillance during COVID-19 emergencies. Hence, the study examined the advancement in smart health devices evidence in smartphone apps technologies in surveillance, control, and tracking potential virus areas among high-risk populations.

OBJECTIVE

The study explored how environmental condition and MDC mediates between knowledge of App and mobile usability in the prevention of COVID-19 infection in high-risk areas.

METHODS

Using the concept of UTAUT, the study conceptualized that mobile usability, MDC, knowledge of App and environmental condition, are essential for COVID-19 mitigation. A cross-sectional method was adopted through an online survey to assess data from n = 459 mobile users. The association of the study models was appraised through structural equation models (Amos v.24.0).

RESULT

We found mobile usability, knowledge of App, and MDC were statistically significant to COVID-19 mitigation. Environment condition as mediator had no effect in the study models. However, moderating effect of MDC shows a negative influence on the association between COVID-19 mitigation and knowledge of apps.

CONCLUSION

Future policies should consider the development of mHealth technology to improve end-user experience. Also, future policies should entail data privacy to reduce the infringement of data collected. This approach will lead to a confidential, high acceptance of usability of mHealth apps infectious disease prevention.

An ecological approach to the development of an active aging measurement in urban areas (AAMU)

BACKGROUND

An essential element in the process of "aging well" is the concept of Active Aging (AA). To propose an operational definition of Active Aging, the present study seeks to develop a new measurement tool through an ecological approach. The aim is to recognize significant indicators that play a role in assessing AA in urban areas.

METHODS

This study was conducted through a two-phase process of consensus-building: 1) identifying a set of indicators that were likely candidates for inclusion based on literature review, and 2) a two-round modified Delphi survey using an international panel of academic experts in environmental sciences and gerontology to achieve consensus on the importance of the extracted indicators and validate the items. The panelists were asked to complete a researcher-developed questionnaire with an 11-point Likert scale based on the indicators derived in phase 1. Finally, the Delphi survey's valid indicators and criteria were utilized to develop the measurement tool.

RESULTS

At the outset, a list of 111 indicators of AA was prepared through the desk study. A panel of 22 experts reviewed the extracted items and arrived at a consensus on 99 items in the first round and finalised in the second round. Thematic analysis of the panelists' open-ended responses revealed new concepts that would be explicitly considered by the consensus group. This developed measurement scale consists of five domains, i.e., individual, spatial, socio-economic, governance, and health-related, which contain 15 criteria and 99 indicators.

CONCLUSIONS

The present researchers have developed the active aging measure for urban settlements (AAMU), which can be used both by policy-makers and as an informal self-reported statement among the elderly. AAM's results in the elderly's residential environmental communities can improve policy-making to address urban design to sustain an active, healthy life among older people in urban environments.

Comprehensive 5P framework for active aging using the ecological approach: an iterative systematic review

BACKGROUND

"Active aging" is an inclusive term and has been defined from a variety of aspects in different domains throughout the literature. The aim of this review was to identify those aspects that play significant roles in building this concept using an ecological approach.

METHODS

In this study, seven online databases, including JSTOR, Pub-Med, Web of Science, Google Scholar, ProQuest, EBSCO, and Scopus, were searched from 2002 to 2018 for both qualitative and quantitative articles published in English. Two reviewers independently found the related articles using the search terms "active aging" and "built environment" and included both "ageing" and "aging".

RESULTS

Of 1500 records which passed the screening stage, 92 were eligible for inclusion in the review. A total of 15 subthemes were derived: (1) personal characteristics, (2) behavioral attitude, (3) land use, (4) access, (5) physical form, (6) cityscape/city image, (7) public open spaces, (8) housing, (9) social environment, (10) cultural Environment, (11) economic environment, (12) good governance, (13) physical health, (14) mental health, and (15) social health. Ecological themes of active aging can be defined as the 5P model: person, processes, place, prime, and policymaking.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study can shed light on different aspects of active aging. Also, the results emphasized the significance of the multidimensional nature of active aging, micro (person), meso (process), and macro systems (place and policymaking), based on health (prime) environments. Moreover, the results were based on the relationships between the person and the environment at the individual, interpersonal, and environmental levels, which can be used to conduct future studies and develop policies on aging populations.

Human Factors in Green Building: Building Types and Users’ Needs

The Special Issue on “Human Factors in Green Building” addresses the design of indoor environment quality for users’ needs. The collected papers cover various building types and the research highlights the different needs of users. In working environments, employees’ stress is the main concern in the workplace design, especially for open plan offices where lack of privacy and over exposure to environmental stress have been reported. In residential environments, residents have great opportunities to adjust their environments to suit their needs; therefore, passive design such as natural ventilation is explored in residential buildings with climates such as cold or humid tropical. In healthcare environments, the papers in this issue are concerned with the needs of patients, especially the older adults who require special care. In learning environments, thermal and visual aspects are investigated for optimal comfort conditions and learning outcomes. The special issue demonstrates insightful critical thinking of indoor environment quality and proposes a new understanding for more practical design solutions. This editorial note is a brief review of the 12 papers, concluding with reflections about design of built environments to meet users’ needs.

A Better Maintenance Strategy, a More Sustainable Hanok: Towards Korean Traditional Public Facilities

Currently, user demands for Hanok, the Korean traditional building type, are increasing in Korea, and their use as residences and accommodations are especially booming, while public facilities are rarely built in the style of Hanok these days. One of the most critical reasons for the issue is that Hanok lack usability and are difficult to maintain as a public facilities. Therefore, it is improvement of the usability of Hanok is needed for them to be accepted as public buildings and to set up the maintenance strategy for the style of the wooden structure. This research has defined public buildings in Hanok and classified them into three types according to structural standards. Then, this study analyzed the characteristics of each type, and suggested a checklist for Hanok usability, employing it to analyze the most recent exemplar Hanoks built as results in the governmental research project, monitored them in aspects of the facility management focused on the wooden structure and suggested strategies for sustainability by deriving eight factors in usability and another eight major types of defects to review the current status of the maintenance for the wooden structure. Finally, this study proposed the main direction for Hanok maintenance to establish its strategies for sustainability.