Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois, USA.
Gerontologist. 2024 Jun 1;64(6). doi: 10.1093/geront/gnae013.
Although assistive technologies have the potential to bridge the gap between personal capabilities and environmental demands, they may not always fully accommodate disability. This study examined the implications of change in the extent of accommodation provided by assistive technology for well-being in older adulthood.
Data from 5 waves (2015-2019) of the National Health and Aging Trends Study provided information on disability and assistive technology use among older adults aged 65 and older in the United States (n = 7,057). An eight-level index that jointly characterized the spectrum of disability and assistive technology use was applied to 7 activities of daily living (ADLs). Fixed-effects panel model assessed within-person associations between well-being and the extent of assistive technology accommodation along different levels of the disability spectrum.
At baseline, bathing (28.7%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 27.6, 29.8) and toileting (37.9%; 95% CI: 36.2, 39.6) were the 2 activities in which most older adults successfully accommodated their limitations with assistive technologies. Longitudinally, the level of support provided by assistive technology changed widely across activities and over time. Within-person analyses showed that for all ADLs except for eating, there was a significant decline in well-being when the adopted assistive technology no longer supported users' needs and successfully resolved their disabilities.
Our findings highlight the utility of technology-based interventions and underscore the imperative that assistive technologies attend to the specific needs of older adults and support independence in everyday activities.
尽管辅助技术有可能弥合个人能力与环境需求之间的差距，但它们可能并不总能完全满足残疾人士的需求。本研究探讨了辅助技术提供的适应程度变化对老年期幸福感的影响。
美国国家健康老龄化趋势研究（2015-2019 年）的 5 个波次数据提供了关于 65 岁及以上老年人残疾和辅助技术使用情况的信息（n=7057）。一个联合描述残疾和辅助技术使用范围的 8 级指数被应用于 7 项日常生活活动（ADL）。固定效应面板模型评估了幸福感与残疾谱不同水平上辅助技术适应程度之间的个体内关联。
在基线时，洗澡（28.7%；95%置信区间[CI]：27.6，29.8）和如厕（37.9%；95%CI：36.2，39.6）是大多数老年人通过辅助技术成功适应其局限性的两项活动。纵向来看，辅助技术提供的支持水平在不同活动和时间上变化很大。个体内分析显示，除了进食，在采用的辅助技术不再支持用户需求并成功解决其残疾问题时，所有 ADL 的幸福感都显著下降。
我们的发现强调了基于技术的干预措施的实用性，并强调辅助技术必须满足老年人的特定需求，并支持他们在日常活动中的独立性。
