Assessing Older Adults' Perspectives on Digital Game-Related Strategies to Foster Active and Healthy Ageing

The growing use of digital platforms among older adults has brought increased challenges to the design and development process, thus requiring considering age-related needs and changes. Nonetheless, a growing body of research suggests that different types of applications of digital platforms, i.e., digital games, can foster new opportunities to encourage active and healthy ageing (AHA) by promoting knowledge acquisition, developing competences, fostering well-being, and deepening social connections. Therefore, this study aims to assess older adults’ perspectives and participation in digital game-related strategies and how these can foster AHA. A mixed-methods approach was applied, resorting to field notes and a questionnaire, involving 18 participants aged between 63 and 81, at the Ageing Lab (Laboratório do Envelhecimento). Through 10 exploratory digital gaming-related sessions over approximately two months, participants were introduced to game-related strategies and online communities. Overall, this study sustained previous research about the influence of digital games and online communities in the promotion of AHA, by encouraging participation in society, acquisition of new digital competences in the dimensions of information and data literacy, communication and collaboration, and safety; and maintaining one’s health and well-being. Moreover, findings suggest that continued contact with information and communication technologies stimulates digital proficiency, thus further fostering inclusion in an increasingly digital society

COVID-19 and the secret virtual assistants: the social weapons for a state of emergency

Technologies are ubiquitous in modern Britain, gradually infiltrating many areas of our working and personal lives. But what role can technology play in the current COVID-19 pandemic? At a time when our usual face to face social interactions are temporarily suspended, many of us have reached out to technology (e.g. Skype, WhatsApp, Facebook, Zoom) to help maintain a sense of closeness and connection to friends, family and vital services. One largely unsung technology is the virtual assistant (VA), a cost-efficient technology enabling users to access the Internet of Things using little more than voice. Deploying an ecological framework, in the context of smart age-friendly cities, this paper explores how VA technology can function as an emergency response system, providing citizens with systems to connect with friends, family, vital services and offering assistance in the diagnosis of COVID-19. We provide an illustration of the potentials and challenges VAs present, concluding stricter regulation and controls should be implemented before VAs can be safely integrated into smart age-friendly cities across the globe

Third place: a qualitative examination of socialization and community building in CCRCs

2020 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs) continue to be a popular option for senior living. Social activity is invariably tied to improved health trajectories and decreased loneliness but is often challenging for persons who may not have transportation available pointing at designers and architects to create quality social spaces within the CCRC itself. The concept of Oldenburg's third place and the breadth of literature tied to it provides a link between the built environment and network sociology informing this study. This case study utilized a spatial inventory, resident interviews and direct observations to investigate 1) whether CCRCs are utilizing Evidence-based design (EBD), 2) if there are naturally occurring or purpose-build third places internal to the community, and 3) whether these spaces were supporting socialization for the residents. While findings indicated limited use of EBD principals, the use of administrative policy lead to unique social leveling in the CCRC's purpose-built third place

Defining digital joy-of-use criteria for seniors: a design approach to build motivational user experiences for older generation

The recent increase of aging population across Europe and the rest of the globe represents one of the most radical demographic changes in the history of humankind. The increase of ageing society will have a vast effect on governments, families, individuals and companies, humans getting older has deeply modified societies, making it possible that three or more generations live together within the same environment. Due to digital environments, it is important that the needs of older generations are adequately taken into account when it comes to modern communication. In recent years, there has been a lot of research on necessary usability standards within website development for the aged generation, however a functioning usability is not the only point to consider for a successful realization of a digital product. Therefore, the objective of this thesis is to identify which criteria in terms of Joy-of-Use can help to motivate older people to use digital applications. The results should contribute to provide additional recommendations for the development of the project “Never-too-old”. The underlying research in this thesis is divided in two parts, in the first part experts in the field of ageing society have been interviewed, to get a better understanding and validate the findings within the literature review. In the second part of the study, people over the age of 60 years have been interviewed, to understand which criteria of Joy-of-Use motivates them to use digital applications. The results show that especially the criteria stimulation of the intellect, identification with the product and arousal of curiosity play an important role within the analyzed target group

A Review of Community Aging in Place Programs to Minimize Social Isolation in Older Adults

The aging baby boomer population calls for new solutions to enable older Americans to age in place in their communities of choice. Nine out of ten adults age 50 and older prefer to remain in their homes indefinitely as they age, or as long as they possibly can (Gonyea, & Burnes, 2013). However, program funding that supports aging in place does not come close to keeping pace with the rapid growth of the 65 and older population (American Institutes for Research, 2016). There are a limited number of programs in place to address socialization in community-dwelling older adults. The prevalence of social isolation has been well documented in the literature for community-dwelling older adults (Dickens, Richards, Greaves, & Campbell, 2011; Painter, et al., 2012; Levasseur et al., 2015; Masi, Chen, Hawkley, & Cacioppo, 2011; Sabir, et al., 2009; Steptoe et al., 2013; Vogelsang, 2016). Social isolation can have a variety of negative implications for older adults, including an increased rate of mortality, cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases, cognitive decline, diminished immune function, loneliness, depression, suicidal ideation, and suicidal behavior (Cornwell & Waite, 2009; Masi et al., 201; Steptoe, Shankar, Demakakos, & Wardle, 2013). A literature review was conducted to identify aging in place programs that address social isolation in older adults. Based on the results of the literature, a product entitled The Friendly Neighbor: Community Programming for Socially Isolated Older Adults was developed. This product is designed to provide a resource for occupational therapists to assess which aging in place programs may be the best to implement in their community. It contains a summary of the benefits, challenges, setting, participants, cost-effectiveness, and outcomes of each program. The product includes descriptions of community programs, table summaries of the aging in place programs previously discussed, a step by step guide for application of the PEO model, and a resource section. Occupational therapists can use this resource to compare characteristics of various aging in place programs to create an evidence-based program that will meet the specific needs of the community they are working with. It is proposed that these programs can be effectively used to help older adults build social networks and increase social participation in their community. Social isolation is a prevalent and often overlooked issue in community-dwelling older adults. This issue falls within the practice of occupational therapy, and occupational therapists have the skills necessary to create and implement community-based programs to address this issue (AOTA, 2016; Bacsu et al., 2012; Smallfield, Haag, Poston, Giger, Anderson, 2014; Dickens et al., 2011; Steultjens et al., 2004; Vogelsang, 2016). The purpose of this project was to support the implementation of aging in place programs to reduce the prevalence of social isolation in older adults that wish to remain in their homes as they age

Enabling citizens’ speculation: The method of co-speculation for collectively imagining possible futures of ‘ikigai’ in an aging society

Modern industrialized society oppresses human autonomy and shapes dominant future images. Rapid enhancement of technologies adds much more complexity to our society, and it can be dystopian futures. These futures are often shaped by actors with power, such as experts, tech industries, institutions, or designers. On the other hand, recent design agendas including Transition Design and Collective Dreaming, claim a strong demand for empowering wider people to shape desirable futures. Therefore, the thesis presents the method of Co-Speculation as a participatory and experiential speculative method to enable non-expert citizens themselves to imagine possible futures.  The thesis is grounded on mainly two fields; speculative design and participatory design. It investigates how the Co-Speculation method can work for everyday citizens to collectively envision possible futures. In more detail, the research aims to investigate three sub-questions: 1) To explore why speculative design needs to be more participatory, 2) To explore what enables or challenges citizens to speculate futures, and 3) To explore what possible effects the method can create. With this aim, the thesis conducted an empirical case study in the City of Takarazuka, in Japan. In collaboration with the local civic-tech organization, Community Link, the case study explored futures of ikigai, a psychological state of feeling worthy for a living, in the context of an aging society. The project engaged active citizens as co-futurists. Materials for analysis were collected from evaluative interviews with participants, audio records of the workshop, and the researcher’s reflection notes. The research found that the Co-Speculation performs as a potential method for enabling citizens to envision alternative futures. It supports non-experts’ imagination in several ways; diverse views of participants, making as an embodied act, and the empathic scaffolding tools. Some challenges were also identified, such as the difficulty in the suspension of disbelief, dominant pre-assumptions, and a lack of controversial views. Suggestions for further improvements and possible areas of the method application are also presented. This study contributes to the academic discussion on speculative design and participatory design by providing findings and the empirical case of the method application. The conclusion indicates that the method can catalyse imagination and citizens can be involved in the visioning process as active co-futurists

Is the Attention Economy Noxious?

A growing amount of media is paid for by its consumers through their very consumption of it. This new media is highly interactive and requires some form of computing for its operation (Logan, 2010). Examples include the services offered by Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube. As these examples suggest, much new media is funded primarily through advertising, which has been optimized using Big Data

Is the Attention Economy Noxious?

A growing amount of media is paid for by its consumers through their very consumption of it. This new media is highly interactive and requires some form of computing for its operation (Logan, 2010). Examples include the services offered by Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube. As these examples suggest, much new media is funded primarily through advertising, which has been optimized using Big Data

Social isolation and social anxiety as drivers of generation Z's willingness to share personal information on social media

Generation Z's (gen z) sharing of personal information on social media is a growing phenomenon with significant ramifications. Existing research, however, focuses on examining the role of social and/or psychological factors and fails to consider how and when social, psychological, and organizational factors affect gen z's willingness to share personal information on social media. To fill this gap, we propose a conceptual model based on the tenets of sociometer theory, to understand the dynamics of gen z's willingness to share personal information while considering its process and boundary conditions. Using a sequential multi-study design, we conducted an experiment followed by a survey to test our hypotheses using data collected from gen z in India. Our findings show that when gen z feels socially isolated/anxious, they are more likely to share personal information on social media. The effect of social isolation on sharing of personal information increases when gen z fear that they are missing out on the rewarding experiences others are having, are engaged in repetitive negative thoughts and perceive their firm's privacy policy as transparent and ethical. Our findings provide a better understanding of why, how, and when gen z's are willing to share personal information on social media. We extend existing limited research on the psychological aspects of digital natives' interaction with modern technologies. Our results equip social media marketing and brand managers with the knowledge they need to increase gen z's willingness to share personal information