Stamate Andreea, Marzan Mircea-Dan, Velciu Magdalena, Paul Cosmina, Spiru Luiza
Research Department, Ana Aslan International Foundation, Bucharest, Romania.
Department of Geriatrics, Gerontology, and Old Age Psychiatry and Longevity Medicine, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania.
Front Public Health. 2024 Dec 6;12:1469815. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1469815. eCollection 2024.
The global demographic shift toward an aging population necessitates a nuanced approach to developing and adopting assistive technologies tailored for older adults. This paper synthesizes key challenges, strategies, and recommendations identified in addressing the complex landscape of technology adoption and usage among aging populations. User-centric design and co-creation initiatives are vital for developing assistive technologies that meet the needs of older adults. These initiatives involve engaging older adults in activities like workshops, focus groups, and design sessions to gather feedback and refine technology solutions, ensuring they are accessible, intuitive, and effective. Challenges such as participant selection, cultural attitudes, and trust-building mechanisms are paramount in ensuring meaningful user involvement in technology development processes. Accurate assessment of older adults' technological literacy is identified as critical for designing and implementing digital solutions. The unreliability of self-reported proficiency necessitates objective measures in assessments to counter potential biases and ensure accurate insights into user capabilities. The fragmented digital ecosystem and resulting digital divide among older adults pose significant barriers to technology adoption and usage. The role of caregivers in technology acceptance highlights the need for integrated models that encompass the caregiver perspective, reducing adoption barriers and fostering meaningful engagement with assistive technologies. Interdisciplinary collaboration and robust research standards are essential in advancing technology adoption and addressing societal inequalities. Prioritizing user-centric design, integrating caregivers into technology adoption models, and fostering collaborative efforts across disciplines can significantly improve technology acceptance and enhance the quality of life for older adults in an increasingly digital era.
全球人口向老龄化转变，这就需要采取细致入微的方法来开发和采用适合老年人的辅助技术。本文综合了在应对老年人群体技术采用和使用这一复杂局面时所确定的关键挑战、策略和建议。以用户为中心的设计和共同创造举措对于开发满足老年人需求的辅助技术至关重要。这些举措包括让老年人参与工作坊、焦点小组和设计会议等活动，以收集反馈并完善技术解决方案，确保这些方案易于使用、直观且有效。在确保老年人有意义地参与技术开发过程方面，诸如参与者选择、文化态度和信任建立机制等挑战至关重要。准确评估老年人的技术素养对于设计和实施数字解决方案至关重要。自我报告的熟练程度不可靠，因此评估中需要采用客观措施来应对潜在偏差，并确保准确了解用户能力。分散的数字生态系统以及由此导致的老年人数字鸿沟，对技术的采用和使用构成了重大障碍。照顾者在技术接受方面的作用凸显了需要有综合模式，将照顾者的观点纳入其中，减少采用障碍，并促进与辅助技术进行有意义的互动。跨学科合作和强有力的研究标准对于推动技术采用和解决社会不平等问题至关重要。优先考虑以用户为中心的设计、将照顾者纳入技术采用模式，并促进跨学科的合作努力，能够显著提高技术接受度，并在日益数字化的时代提高老年人的生活质量。
