Autonomous Ageing at home in the digital age: A mixed method evaluation
Most people want to grow old and grey at home in familiar surroundings. Assistive technologies, such as apps and wearables, have the potential to support this wish by promoting health and safety.
Factsheet
- Lead school School of Health Professions
- Additional schools School of Social Work
- Institute Institute on Ageing
- Funding organisation Others
- Duration (planned) 01.01.2024 - 31.01.2025
- Project management Dr. Marina Paula Bruderer
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Head of project
Dr. Marina Paula Bruderer
Prof. Dr. Brigitte Gantschnig -
Project staff
Leah Reicherzer
Mandy Scheermesser
Thomas Ballmer
Franzisca Domeisen Benedetti
Tina Quasdorf -
Partner
ZHAW
Velux Stiftung
Situation
Most older adults wish to age in their own homes and familiar environments. 'Aging in place' refers to the ability of living safely and autonomously in one's familiar surroundings, regardless of individual capabilities. Apps and wearables can support 'aging in place' and healthy ageing by providing tools and resources to manage physical and cognitive health, safety and overall well-being at home. Despite their potential, however, apps and wearables are only slowly being accepted and used by older adults. Therefore, the expected benefits, needs, and attitudes of older adults, caregivers, healthcare professionals, and other relevant stakeholders need to be clarified. In addition, to effectively promote these devices, information on the quality of apps and wearables and recommendations for their use are required. Therefore, the overall objective of this project is to provide an overview and formulate clear recommendations for the use and development of widely applicable apps and wearables to support healthy aging and autonomous living in old age. The recommendations will be based on the expected benefits, needs, and attitudes from the perspective of older adults, caregivers, and healthcare professionals, as well as an assessment of the quality of existing apps and wearables.
Course of action
The project uses a mixed-method research design and consists of three complementary work packages: 1) The expected benefits, needs and potential barriers and facilitators will be elicited based on a) qualitative focus group discussions with older, community-dwelling adults, family carers or relatives of older adults, health professionals, and general practitioners; and b) expert interviews with experts and specialists from informatics, law, ethics, health insurance, economy etc. 2) Based on scoping research, an overview of the apps and wearables available in Switzerland will be compiled. The quality will be assessed with the help of an using an existing criteria catalogue, devel-oped and tested at the ZHAW School of Health Sciences. In addition, we will evaluate the extent to which the apps and wearables meet the expected benefits and needs identified in work package 1. 3) A synthesis and recommendations will be developed based on the results and disseminated.
Result
The results are expected by early 2025.
Looking ahead
In addition to contributions to scientific journals and at conferences, we plan to disseminate the findings into practice through various channels (e.g., LinkedIn) and platforms (e.g., website). Our goal is to reach older adults, caregivers, healthcare professionals, and policymakers.
