The simplification of complex interactions for more inclusive social communication technologies (position paper)

New technologies, especially smart homes and mobile and ubiquitous technologies have the potential to foster improved quality of life in the older population. Some anticipated benefits are linked to specific applications in areas such as home automation, communication, shopping and health. However, some valuable potential benefits lie in building and sustaining relationships with remote extended family, particularly children and grandchildren, as well as with carers, neighbours and friends. Communication with geographically remote family can play an important role in helping to sustain autonomy, inclusion and independence. Reduction in isolation and improved participation have the potential to improve or sustain quality of life, but in addition they can lead to a reduction in vulnerability and sustained physical health. Another benefit can be to reassure adult children about the viability of their parent's independent living. Broadband "always-on" communications are potentially particularly useful tools in sustaining geographically remote relationships with extended family, as they can support many useful kinds of interaction, using modalities such as voice, video, pervasive annotation, selection, and remote concierging. Unfortunately, many possible new interactions are currently complex to manage, ruling them out on grounds of poor acceptability, accessibility and usability. However, our hypothesis is that a new interaction framework that combines social and technical components could be used to simplify many interactions of the kinds noted above sufficiently to the point where they would be rendered acceptable, accessible and usable. This paper outlines plans to test such a framework

Smart homes and extended families

Mobile and Ubiquitous technologies have the potential to strengthen and enrich geographically dispersed multigenerational family relationships and networks in ways that go well beyond existing telecommunications technologies. Smart home technologies could be developed specifically to facilitate a rich range of interactions between geographically dispersed members of multi-generational and extended families by focusing on ways in which networks of two or more smart homes could promote such interactions. The aim is find ways to strengthen geographically remote multi-generational family relationships and reduce the isolation of older family members. We outline the new interaction principles that can be used to simplify such interactions, and the biographical and ethnographic techniques needed to identify the factors likely to affect the acceptability and perceived value of such new facilities within family networks

Homely residential care: a contradiction in terms?

Accommodation and care for older people is commonly thought of in relation to residential care homes: the collective settings with communal lounges and dining rooms, where older people may live what seems to be a fine balance between individual and group routines. Yet, while there have been changes to the living arrangements of people in relatively large collective groups, the ideal put forward as a basis for care settings has remained that of 'home', with the family model still central. With the tensions between public and private, domestic and institutional living, regulated and non-regulated settings, all too obvious, this article uses a pilot study in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire of registered small homes with less than four residential places, often run by the proprietor and her family, to consider whether residential homes may replicate a homely environment, or whether the model has run its course

Digital inclusion: opportunities for older people

Based on findings from the Value Ageing project http://www.value-ageing.eu and our projects at the OU http://www.shaileyminocha.info/people-aged-over-55-years/, we discussed how digital inclusion of older people can provide various advantages and opportunities: online socialisation and alleviating of social isolation and loneliness; maintaining, nurturing and growth of their interests and hobbies; enhancing employability and being able to sustain lifelong learning through use of MOOCs and open educational resources; and being able to use digital health wearables for self-monitoring and self-management of health

Underestimating the relationship between academic advising and attainment: a case study in practice

The Higher Education Academy (2015) has highlighted attainment alongside access, retention and progression as key areas of foci in order to fulfill the aspiration to provide all students with the opportunities and support required to succeed in Higher Education. Although previous research into academic advising has focused on the impact upon student satisfaction and retention, the impact upon attainment is underexplored. This research aims to explore the extent of the relationship between advising and attainment and answers the call by bodies such as Advance HE (formerly the Higher Education Academy) to recognise that academic advising is vital to student success. This research provides a contribution to the body of knowledge around academic advising, in the form of a case study undertaken to identify the impact of academic advising on student attainment at Sheffield Hallam University. A focus group and questionnaire were employed to gather data from final year undergraduate students at Sheffield Hallam University. Findings indicate that the impact of academic advising on attainment is both explicit and implicit, with support in areas beyond academic studies having a significant impact on student experiences. In addition this research also questions the perceived meanings of attainment in HE and proposes that attainment should be viewed as holistic attainment whereby students are developed as a whole, better enabling them to deal with the HE environment and beyond rather than being limited to academic numerical attainment

Role Of Digital Health Wearables In The Wellbeing And Quality Of Life Of Older People And Carers

The number of adults aged 65 and over has increased by 2% across Europe in the past 15 years, and in Northern Ireland by 22% between 2003-2013. The proportion of the population in this age group is projected to increase by 63% to just under 0.5 million by 2033 – which will be a quarter of the population in Northern Ireland. Given Northern Ireland’s Active Ageing Strategy (2015-2021), there is an increasing focus on encouraging physical activity as we get older to preserve mobility and motor skills, and to enjoy the benefits of living longer and to minimise health problems associated with ageing. Over the last two years, we have been investigating the role of wearable activity tracking technologies in self-monitoring of activity by people aged over 55. Example technologies include activity trackers from Fitbit, Garmin and Samsung, and smart watches. Typically, these devices record steps walked, sleep patterns, calories expended and heart rate. Based on empirical investigations, this policy paper describes the benefits of activity monitors for people aged over 55 for self-monitoring of physical activity, for adopting healthy lifestyles, and for increasing or maintaining physical activity as a way to avoid high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and other medical conditions associated with weight or lower physical activity. It outlines the role of activity trackers in post-operative monitoring of mobility during rehabilitation, in caring, and for possible use of the data for diagnosis and medical interventions. It then discusses the challenges for adoption of these technologies, given currently, off-the-shelf devices are designed and calibrated for use by physically fit (typically young active people) with unrealistic fitness targets for the older generation

Investigating the influence of wearable activity - tracking technologies on behaviour change in people aged 55 and over

Our research project (http://www.shaileyminocha.info/digital-health-wearables/) at UK’s Open University and in collaboration with Age UK Milton Keynes aims to investigate whether behaviour changes in people aged over 55 years through the use of wearable activity-tracking technologies. Example technologies include those from Fitbit, Jawbone, or smart watches from Apple or Samsung. Typically, these devices record steps walked, sleep patterns, or calories expended.    The benefits of regular physical activity for older adults and those with chronic disease and/or mobility limitations are indisputable. Regular physical activity attenuates many of the health risks associated with obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression and anxiety, and cognitive decline. As physical activity levels among older adults (both with and without chronic disease) are low, facilitating an increase in activity levels is an important public health issue. Walking has been identified as an ideal means of low-impact, low-risk physical activity that can boost physical and mental wellbeing. An author of a recent study said: “Physical activity may create a ‘reserve’ that protects motor abilities against the effects of age-related brain damage”. Walking has been shown to improve cognitive performance in older people. Our previous research has shown that walking with others can help reduce social isolation and loneliness among people aged 55 and over. In our year-long project (May 2016 – April 2017) and funded by the Sir Halley Stewart Trust, we have given activity-trackers to 17 participants in the age range from 55 – 80. Through monthly workshops, diaries that the participants are maintaining and sharing with us on a weekly basis, and through one-to-one interviews with them, we are investigating how the behaviours of our participants is changing – whether there is an increase in their activity such as walking or gardening, lifestyle changes, attitudes towards food/diet, and so on. There is already some evidence emerging such as: increase in activity levels in all the participants; increased awareness of food intake; and sharing of data with the GPs to diagnose the non-optimal sleep patterns (one of them now has a treatment plan in place for poor sleep). A couple of participants have joined the gym when they realised that their desk-based work-life doesn’t give them the opportunity to stay active during the week. In addition, we have conducted two surveys: the first survey is aimed at people aged 55 years and over who are already using these devices - to investigate their experiences and the changes in their behaviours that they perceive; and the second survey is aimed at medical professionals to explore whether they use the data from these devices for diagnosis and intervention. Most importantly, do medical professionals use data from these devices to determine the behaviour or lifestyle changes in people aged over 55 years? The Open University's Human Research Ethics Committee has approved the research design of this project (HREC/2016/2191/Minocha/1)

Age-Friendly Standards Around ICT

As the European population ages, there is an escalating need for age-friendly standards to support development of effective products and services involving information and communication technologies (ICT), thereby improving usability for all consumers, including older people. Co-production with users through inclusive and participatory processes provides several benefits to standardization, including enhanced understanding of market needs, clearer identification and mitigation of risks, and increased legitimacy of the standards developed. Ideally, co-production includes users from a range of backgrounds. However, older people, especially those aged over 80 years, are often the least likely in the population to be involved. This paper reports on barriers and challenges to inclusive co-production from the perspectives of a range of stakeholders participating in the European Commission-funded project PROGRESSIVE: Progressive Standards around ICT for Active and Healthy Ageing. It identifies potential ways to improve the participation of older people in the co-production of standards