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1. Aging in Smart Environments for Independence

   https://doi.org/10.1109/ISTAS50296.2020.9462211  

   Miller, Jordan; McDaniel, Troy; Bernstein, Michael J. (January 2020, 2020 IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS))

   null (Ed.)

   This paper highlights current technological limitations and offers recommendations for scientists and engineers when designing devices to support aging in place. Existing technology for older adults to support independent living is examined as well as the implications of contextual factors, namely, location, on how people live and age based on the location in which they reside. This is the first review to investigate how challenges of aging change relative to location of residence and, subsequently, how such variation may inform technological solutions. To date, few devices consider the environment in which older individuals age. Places examined include aging: at home; assisted living facilities; nursing homes; and family housing. Challenges found in common across these locations were financial strain and isolation. In addition, each setting was found to have its own unique hurdles. Understanding these barriers is essential to developing technology that enables older adults to successfully age in place. 

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2. SMART AGING: ENGAGING OLDER ADULTS TO GUIDE SENSOR DEVELOPMENT TO SUPPORT AGING IN PLACE

   https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igad104.1908  

   Schoenfeld, Elinor; Trimboli, Tracy; Ayisi-Boahene, Givenchy; Bruckenthal, Patricia; Zadok, Erez; Horwitz, Shelley; Ye, Fan (December 2023, Innovation in Aging)

   Abstract Over 80% of older adults want to live independently in their own homes and communities, maintaining quality of life, autonomy, and dignity as they age. We are using community engaged research methods to aid in developing in-home cost-conscious remote sensing technologies to support older adults age in place. To understand their needs, we engaged older adults in discussions on home-based sensing technologies. We used visuals and demonstrations to facilitate discussions, showing participants our sensor prototypes and a vignette describing the challenges an older adult and the family face managing a chronic condition. Participants voiced their interest in monitoring for select health conditions and situations when either they or the person(s) they care for are home alone. Discussants raised concerns about personal security/privacy, loss of independence, ethics of data collection and sharing, and being overwhelmed by collected data. Discussions have provided valuable feedback to help us develop a sensor system that is flexible enough to accommodate individuals in different life stages and comfort levels, with different home environments, levels of expendable income, and support structures. As a result, we have developed a system that uses nonvisual, non-wearable sensing that measures respiration and heart rates, and indoor location tracking to monitor the health and wellbeing of users. During this session, we will provide detailed results from our community discussions, and discuss the continuing role for community engagement as we move forward with sensor development and testing. 

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3. Advance Planning for Technology Use in Dementia Care: Development, Design, and Feasibility of a Novel Self-administered Decision-Making Tool

   https://doi.org/10.2196/39335  

   Berridge, Clara; Turner, Natalie R; Liu, Liu; Karras, Sierramatice W; Chen, Amy; Fredriksen-Goldsen, Karen; Demiris, George (January 2022, JMIR Aging)

   BackgroundMonitoring technologies are used to collect a range of information, such as one’s location out of the home or movement within the home, and transmit that information to caregivers to support aging in place. Their surveilling nature, however, poses ethical dilemmas and can be experienced as intrusive to people living with Alzheimer disease (AD) and AD-related dementias. These challenges are compounded when older adults are not engaged in decision-making about how they are monitored. Dissemination of these technologies is outpacing our understanding of how to communicate their functions, risks, and benefits to families and older adults. To date, there are no tools to help families understand the functions of monitoring technologies or guide them in balancing their perceived need for ongoing surveillance and the older adult’s dignity and wishes. ObjectiveWe designed, developed, and piloted a communication and education tool in the form of a web application called Let’s Talk Tech to support family decision-making about diverse technologies used in dementia home care. The knowledge base about how to design online interventions for people living with mild dementia is still in development, and dyadic interventions used in dementia care remain rare. We describe the intervention’s motivation and development process, and the feasibility of using this self-administered web application intervention in a pilot sample of people living with mild AD and their family care partners. MethodsWe surveyed 29 mild AD dementia care dyads living together before and after they completed the web application intervention and interviewed each dyad about their experiences with it. We report postintervention measures of feasibility (recruitment, enrollment, and retention) and acceptability (satisfaction, quality, and usability). Descriptive statistics were calculated for survey items, and thematic analysis was used with interview transcripts to illuminate participants’ experiences and recommendations to improve the intervention. ResultsThe study enrolled 33 people living with AD and their care partners, and 29 (88%) dyads completed the study (all but one were spousal dyads). Participants were asked to complete 4 technology modules, and all completed them. The majority of participants rated the tool as having the right length (>90%), having the right amount of information (>84%), being very clearly worded (>74%), and presenting information in a balanced way (>90%). Most felt the tool was easy to use and helpful, and would likely recommend it to others. ConclusionsThis study demonstrated that our intervention to educate and facilitate conversation and documentation of preferences is preliminarily feasible and acceptable to mild AD care dyads. Effectively involving older adults in these decisions and informing care partners of their preferences could enable families to avoid conflicts or risks associated with uninformed or disempowered use and to personalize use so both members of the dyad can experience benefits. 

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4. Supporting Caring among Intergenerational Family Members through Family Fitness Tracking

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3421937.3422018  

   Li, Qingyang; Caldeira, Clara; Epstein, Daniel A.; Chen, Yunan (May 2020, Proceedings of the 14th EAI International Conference on Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare)

   null (Ed.)

   We present results from a qualitative study involving eight intergenerational families (27 participants) to understand how a family tracking intervention can help support care among intergenerational family members. Our findings show that family members communicate and stay aware of each other's' health through shared fitness data and conversations triggered by fitness sharing. We identified different challenges and preferences among the three age groups in our study: older adults enjoyed family fitness sharing but often encountered various technical challenges, the middle-aged group served as a key person to care for the rest of the family members, and the young generation could not fully engage in fitness sharing due to their busy schedule and privacy concerns. These findings suggest the design of family fitness sharing to account for the age differences in intergenerational families and support the unique needs of family fitness sharing. 

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5. Ambient intelligence: Placement of Kinect sensors in the home of older adults with visual disabilities

   https://doi.org/10.3233/TAD-200287  

   Kim, Hyung Nam (November 2020, Technology and Disability)

   null (Ed.)

   BACKGROUND: Although a number of research studies on sensor technology for smart home environments have been conducted, there is still lack of consideration of human factors in implementing sensor technology in the home of older adults with visual disabilities. OBJECTIVE: This paper aims to advance knowledge of how sensor technology (e.g., Microsoft Kinect) should be implemented in the home of those with visual disabilities. METHODS: A convenience sample of 20 older adults with visual disabilities allowed us to observe their home environments and interview about the activities of daily living, which were analyzed via the inductive content analysis. RESULTS: Sensor technology should be integrated in the living environments of those with visual disabilities by considering various contexts, including people, tasks, tools, and environments (i.e., level-1 categories), which were further broken down into 22 level-2 categories and 28 level-3 categories. Each sub-category included adequate guidelines, which were also sorted by sensor location, sensor type, and data analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The guidelines will be helpful for researchers and professionals in implementing sensor technology in the home of older adults with visual disabilities. 

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