Pech Marion, Gbessemehlan Antoine, Dupuy Lucile, Sauzéon Hélène, Lafitte Stéphane, Bachelet Philippe, Amieva Hélène, Pérès Karine
Bordeaux Population Health Research Center, Inserm, UMR 1219, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
The SoBeezy Project, Pessac, France.
JMIR Form Res. 2022 Nov 24;6(11):e39185. doi: 10.2196/39185.
The SoBeezy program is an innovative intervention aimed at promoting and fostering healthy aging and aging in place by proposing to older adults concrete solutions to face daily life, tackle loneliness, promote social participation, and reduce the digital divide, thanks to a specific, easy-to-use voice assistant (the BeeVA smart display).
This study aims to assess the acceptability of the SoBeezy program and its voice assistant and to identify potential areas of improvement.
A 12-month experimentation of the program was deployed in real-life conditions among older adults living in the community in 4 pilot cities of France. Launched during the first lockdown of the COVID-19 crisis, this multisite study aimed to assess acceptability using questionnaires and interviews conducted at baseline and at the end of the experimentation. In addition, a series of meetings were conducted with SoBeezy staff members to obtain direct feedback from the ground.
In total, 109 older individuals were equipped with BeeVA to use the SoBeezy program; of these, 32 (29.4%) left the experimentation before its end and 69 (63.3%) completed the final questionnaires. In total, 335 interventions were conducted and 27 (39%) of the participants requested services, mainly for supportive calls and visits and assistance with shopping, transportation, and crafting-gardening. Of the whole sample, 52 (75%) considered BeeVA as a reassuring presence, and few persons (15/69, 22%) reported a negative opinion about the program. Among the participants, the voice assistant appeared easy to use (n=57, 82%) and useful (n=53, 77%). They also were positive about the BeeVA smart display and the SoBeezy intervention.
This multisite study conducted in real-life conditions among more than 100 older adults living in the community provides enlightening results of the reality from the ground of digital tools designed for the aging population. The COVID-19 context appeared both as an opportunity, given the massive needs of the older adults during this crisis, and as limiting due to sanitary constraints. Nevertheless, the experimentation showed overall good acceptability of the voice assistant and a high level of satisfaction of the participants among those who really used the system and could be a way of improving the autonomy and well-being of older adults and their families. However, the findings also highlighted resistance to change and difficulties for the users to ask for help. The experimentation also emphasized levers for next deployments and future research. The next step will be the experimentation of the activity-sharing component that could not be tested due to the COVID-19 context.
SoBeezy项目是一项创新干预措施，旨在通过向老年人提供应对日常生活、解决孤独感、促进社会参与和缩小数字鸿沟的具体解决方案，来促进和推动健康老龄化及就地养老，这要归功于一款特定的、易于使用的语音助手（BeeVA智能显示屏）。
本研究旨在评估SoBeezy项目及其语音助手的可接受性，并确定潜在的改进领域。
该项目在法国4个试点城市的社区老年人中进行了为期12个月的实际应用试验。这项多地点研究在新冠疫情首次封锁期间启动，旨在通过在试验开始时和结束时进行问卷调查和访谈来评估可接受性。此外，还与SoBeezy工作人员举行了一系列会议，以获取实际反馈。
共有109名老年人配备了BeeVA以使用SoBeezy项目；其中，32人（29.4%）在试验结束前退出，69人（63.3%）完成了最终问卷。总共进行了335次干预，27名（39%）参与者请求提供服务，主要是支持性电话和探访以及购物、交通和手工艺园艺方面的帮助。在整个样本中，52人（75%）认为BeeVA是一种令人安心的存在，很少有人（15/69，22%）对该项目持负面看法。在参与者中，语音助手似乎易于使用（n = 57，82%）且有用（n = 53，77%）。他们对BeeVA智能显示屏和SoBeezy干预措施也持积极态度。
这项在100多名社区老年人中进行的实际应用多地点研究，为针对老年人群体设计的数字工具的实际情况提供了有启发性的结果。新冠疫情背景既是一个机遇，因为在此危机期间老年人有大量需求，也是一个限制因素，因为存在卫生方面的限制。尽管如此，试验表明语音助手总体上具有良好的可接受性，并且在真正使用该系统的参与者中满意度很高，这可能是提高老年人及其家庭自主性和幸福感的一种方式。然而，研究结果也凸显了对变革的抵触以及用户寻求帮助的困难。试验还强调了下一次部署和未来研究的杠杆作用。下一步将是对活动共享组件进行试验，由于新冠疫情背景，该组件无法进行测试。
