Independent Aging with the Help of Smart Technology:Investigating the Acceptance of Ambient Assisted Living Technologies

Who takes care of our older adults? According to the European Union, smart technologies that support independent living and active aging, introduced as ‘Ambient Assisted Living’ (AAL), are the future for our aging population. Promises of AAL include saving long-term care costs, improving the quality of care, unburdening family caregivers, and increasing the older adults’ independence and overall quality of life. While the policy enthusiasm for AAL technology is high, it is unclear if the potential users of AAL are willing to embrace AAL technologies in their daily lives. This dissertation addressed this issue by focusing on the perspective of older adults and their caregivers. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches, we developed a comprehensive and theoretically grounded understanding of how and why users perceive AAL technologies in a certain way. Important factors that drive or hinder the acceptance were identified. These insights resulted in a model of AAL acceptance that was validated in a representative sample (n = 1296) of the Dutch older adult population. This dissertation contributes to a more user-driven approach in AAL research and development and has important implications for researchers, developers and policy makers alike. We hope that our results will guide future research efforts, design and policy directions in the AAL field

Ambient Assisted Living:Benefits and Barriers From a User-Centered Perspective

Abstract—Older adults have a growing desire to remain independent and age in their own home environment. Policy makers support this wish, as the quality and quantity of institutional care cannot be guaranteed with the present health care budget. Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) technologies can meet the interests of both parties, by facilitating healthy and active aging in the home environment. However, those technologies are still in their infancy and the likelihood of their adoption remains uncertain. By conducting a literature study and a user-requirement study for a conceptual AAL application called SONOPA (Social Networks for Older Adults to Promote an Active Life), benefits and barriers to the adoption of AAL technologies, as perceived by the elderly user, were identified. The user-requirement study consisted of focus groups and interviews with older adults and elder care professionals, conducted in the UK, France and Belgium. Together, the literature study and the user-requirement study led to several design guidelines which direct the future development process of SONOPA and related AAL applications. Keywords-AAL; elderly; benefits; barriers; design. I

Does beauty matter? The role of friends' attractiveness and gender on social attractiveness ratings of individuals on Facebook

Social network sites have become essential for managing relationships in today's life. Therefore, it is increasingly important for scientist to understand how impressions are formed and connections develop in the virtual world. The current research focuses on the popular social network site Facebook. It seeks to investigate how the attractiveness of Facebook friends affects the impression formation of the profile owner, thereby, including gender effects of target and perceiver. Following this objective, a sample of 78 students took part in the experimental study, rating mocked-up Facebook profiles on the social attractiveness of the owner. Results show that the friends' attractiveness has a direct positive impact on the social attractiveness of the target. The gender of the target and perceiver is not a significant moderator of this relationship. However, a main influence of perceiver's gender could be constituted, implying that male as opposed to female perceivers generally rate strangers more socially attractive on SNSs. Copyright © 2012 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd

Listening to the ones who care: exploring the perceptions of informal caregivers towards ambient assisted living applications

Ambient assisted living (AAL) technologies have received increased attention from government, industry and research. Informal caregivers will be directly affected by the use of these technologies and are likely to be key influencers in the adoption decision of older adults. However, so far the informal caregivers’ perceptions, concerns and needs have been mostly overlooked in AAL research. To address these shortcomings, two studies were conducted. Study I consisted of 20 in-depth interviews with informal caregivers to investigate their perception of various AAL applications. In Study II these findings were validated with regard to our own prototype application called SONOPA. The second study included couples of informal caregivers and care receivers to compare both user groups. Although informal caregivers had a more positive attitude than care receivers and appreciated the opportunities of AAL technologies (e.g., increased safety, peace of mind); they also had several concern such as invading the care receiver’s privacy, the lack of human touch, and the care receiver’s technology experience. To address these concerns, informal caregivers should be more involved when developing AAL applications

Communicating multimodal wayfinding messages for visually impaired people via wearables

People with a visual impairment (PVI) often experience difficulties with wayfinding. Current navigation applications have limited communication channels and do not provide detailed enough information to support PVI. By transmitting wayfinding information via multimodal channels and combining these with wearables, we can provide tailored information for wayfinding and reduce the cognitive load. This study presents a framework for multimodal wayfinding communication via smartwatch. The framework consists of four modalities: audio, voice, tactile and visual. Audio and voice messages are transmitted using a bone conduction headphone, keeping the ears free to focus on the environment. With a smartwatch vibrations are directed to a sensitive part of the body (i.e., the wrist), making it easier to sense the vibrations. Icons and short textual feedback are viewed on the display of the watch, allowing for hands-free navigation

Acceptance of technologies for aging in place:a conceptual model

Background: Older adults want to preserve their health and autonomy and stay in their own home environment for as long as possible. This is also of interest to policy makers who try to cope with growing staff shortages and increasing health care expenses. Ambient assisted living (AAL) technologies can support the desire for independence and aging in place. However, the implementation of these technologies is much slower than expected. This has been attributed to the lack of focus on user acceptance and user needs. Objective: The aim of this study is to develop a theoretically grounded understanding of the acceptance of AAL technologies among older adults and to compare the relative importance of different acceptance factors. Methods: A conceptual model of AAL acceptance was developed using the theory of planned behavior as a theoretical starting point. A web-based survey of 1296 older adults was conducted in the Netherlands to validate the theoretical model. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the hypothesized relationships. Results: Our conceptual model showed a good fit with the observed data (root mean square error of approximation 0.04; standardized root mean square residual 0.06; comparative fit index 0.93; Tucker-Lewis index 0.92) and explained 69% of the variance in intention to use. All but 2 of the hypothesized paths were significant at the P<.001 level. Overall, older adults were relatively open to the idea of using AAL technologies in the future (mean 3.34, SD 0.73). Conclusions: This study contributes to a more user-centered and theoretically grounded discourse in AAL research. Understanding the underlying behavioral, normative, and control beliefs that contribute to the decision to use or reject AAL technologies helps developers to make informed design decisions based on users' needs and concerns. These insights on acceptance factors can be valuable for the broader field of eHealth development and implementation

Why Should I Use This? Identifying Incentives for Using AAL Technologies

Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) technologies have the potential to target the challenges of our aging population. However, little is known about what motivates older adults to adopt these new technologies. Most research in this area relies on single cases with a specific AAL application and a limited number of users. To fill this gap, a content analyses of 35 AAL reports was conducted. The aim was to provide a comprehensive overview of potential incentives for using AAL technologies. The data was coded using the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT). In total 13 incentives could be identified, which were grouped into six categories: (1) social incentives, (2) health and safety incentives, (3) activity incentives, (4) novel sensory incentives, (5) status incentives and (6) self-reactive incentives. Within these categories ‘social connectedness’ and ‘health and safety’ were the most important incentives. These results provide a comprehensive and theoretically grounded understanding of what motivates older adults to adopt AAL technologies

The Influence of Privacy on the Acceptance of Technologies for Assisted Living

With population aging and the expected shortage of formal and informal caregivers, emerging technologies for assistive living are on the rise. Focusing on the perspective of the prospective users of these technologies, this study investigates the perceived drivers and barriers that influence AAL adoption. An online survey among 1296 Dutch older adults was conducted. Although loss of privacy was identified as major barrier towards AAL adoption in previous research, the current study provides statistical evidence that these concerns are secondary to the expected benefits of safe and independent living. These findings suggests that older adults consider aging safely in their trusted home environment as a valid trade-off for some loss of privacy. Despite these results, we urge developers to be mindful of privacy aspects when developing AAL applications, as privacy concerns still had a significant negative influence on the attitude towards using AAL

The influence of privacy on the acceptance of technologies for assisted living

With population aging and the expected shortage of formal and informal caregivers, emerging technologies for assistive living are on the rise. Focusing on the perspective of the prospective users of these technologies, this study investigates the perceived drivers and barriers that influence AAL adoption. An online survey among 1296 Dutch older adults was conducted. Although loss of privacy was identified as major barrier towards AAL adoption in previous research, the current study provides statistical evidence that these concerns are secondary to the expected benefits of safe and independent living. These findings suggests that older adults consider aging safely in their trusted home environment as a valid trade-off for some loss of privacy. Despite these results, we urge developers to be mindful of privacy aspects when developing AAL applications, as privacy concerns still had a significant negative influence on the attitude towards using AAL