ORCID Profile
0000-0002-4308-2873
Current Organisations
King’s College London
,
Nottingham Trent University
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Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.
Date: 31-08-2022
Abstract: he COVID-19 pandemic impacted older adults' social connections and increased loneliness, but also led to increased technology adoption, providing new opportunities to develop technology interventions to meet their social needs. Existing off the shelf social connection platforms do not contain facilities designed to break the cognitive cycle of loneliness, and loneliness interventions implemented without due process could cause detriments to wellbeing. There is also lack of digital technology designed with older adults. e set out to iteratively design a user-centred smartphone app that could address older adult needs for social connection. The research questions were: how could our prototype smartphone app be used in mitigating loneliness and increasing a sense of social connectedness? What were emergent concerns resulting from use? In what ways could it be improved to better meet user needs? e used technology probes to elicit older adults' reflection on the concept of using the app in two studies: Concept focus groups (N=33) and Concept interviews (N=10), and then conducted a prototype trial with one week of use and follow up interviews (N=12). thematic analysis was conducted to explore the experience and emergent challenges of our app through the design process. This led to the development of four themes occurring in all three qualitative datasets: 1) Reflection on a digital social map is reassuring, 2) App features encourage socialising, 3) Risk of compounding loneliness, and 4) Feeling more control with mutual, socially beneficial activities. martphone apps have the potential to increase older people’s awareness of the richness of their social connections, which may support loneliness reduction. Our qualitative approach to app design enabled the inclusion of older adults' experiences in the technology design. With that, we conclude that our older adults most desired functionalities that can support mutual activities and maintaining or finding new connections, rather than sharing of emotional state. They were wary of the app being used to replace preferred in-person social interactions, and they raised concerns about making the user aware of a lack of connections or support in their social network, unless they are offered specific means of addressing their needs. Further user-centred design work is needed to enhance the app to support mutual activities and socialising. Our study illustrates the continued importance of user-centred design work to ensure that digital interventions are designed for populations like older adults.
Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.
Date: 27-01-2023
DOI: 10.2196/42172
Abstract: Loneliness is a significant well-being issue that affects older adults. Existing, commonly used social connection platforms do not contain facilities to break the cognitive cycle of loneliness, and loneliness interventions implemented without due processes could have detrimental effects on well-being. There is also a lack of digital technology designed with older adults. We aimed to iteratively design a user-centered smartphone app that can address loneliness in older adults. The aim of this study was to investigate the loneliness-related psychological processes that our conceptual smartphone app promotes. We also identified the emergent needs and concerns that older adults raised regarding the potential benefits and detriments of the app. We used technology probes to elicit older adults’ reflections on the concept of using the app in 2 studies as follows: concept focus groups (n=33) and concept interviews (n=10). We then conducted a prototype trial with 1 week of use and follow-up interviews (n=12). Thematic analysis explored the experiences and emergent challenges of our app through the design process. This led to the development of 4 themes as follows occurring in all 3 qualitative data sets: reflection on a digital social map is reassuring app features encourage socializing the risk of compounding loneliness and in iduals feel more control with mutual, socially beneficial activities. Smartphone apps have the potential to increase older adults’ awareness of the richness of their social connections, which may support loneliness reduction. Our qualitative approach to app design enabled the inclusion of older adults’ experiences in technology design. Thus, we conclude that the older adults in our study most desired functionalities that can support mutual activities and maintain or find new connections rather than enable them to share an emotional state. They were wary of the app replacing their preferred in-person social interaction. Participants also raised concerns about making the user aware of the lack of support in their social network and wanted specific means of addressing their needs. Further user-centered design work could identify how the app can support mutual activities and socializing.
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Tara Self.