Technology use in everyday life: Implications for designing for older users

This study examines the experience and attitudes of older adults towards technology and how they compare with younger age groups. Two hundred and thirty seven participants completed an extensive questionnaire exploring their daily lifestyle, use of technology, attitudes towards technology, and perceived difficulty of household devices. The main findings from the study were; (1) there was a strong motivation to learn or to continue learning to use computers by the older group; (2) social connectedness influenced how the older group used or would like to use technology and also why some preferred not to use it; and finally (3) there was an age-related increase in perceived difficulty for many household devices, however some devices maintained intergenerational usability. These finding can be used to inform the design of future intergenerational household technologies

Requirements Gathering for the Delivery of Healthcare Data in Aware Homes

Aware homes support the monitoring of older adults, with the potential to detect a wealth of information regarding the person's functional, cognitive and social wellbeing. While much research in this space focuses on the collection and interpretation of sensor data, it is equally important to understand how we can begin to relay the information learned back to older adults, empowering them to play an active role in the management of their health. In this paper we discuss the results of the requirements gathering phase of our research with a number of older adults living in aware homes. The goal of this research is to explore issues surrounding the delivery of healthcare information, as collected through embedded sensors in the home, to the home owner. Our results reveal a number of emerging themes around this space, including a desire by older adults to play an active role in managing their health and potential concerns surrounding the delivery of such information through technology