Wearables & Older Adults

Overview

• Nominal Group Technique
• Seniors & Wearables
• Wearables & BCT's

Using a Collaborative Research Approach to Develop an Interdisciplinary Research Agenda for the Study of Mobile Health Interventions for Older Adults

Seniors with chronic diseases are often called on to self-manage their conditions. Mobile health (mHealth) tools may be a useful strategy to help seniors access health information. Our goal was to include seniors, experts and the stakeholder groups who support seniors as they manage chronic disease.

Our primary objective was to present a case-study of a collaborative research approach to the development of an interdisciplinary research agenda related to how mHealth can help seniors with chronic diseases.

32 participants generated 119 items in total. The top three research questions that emerged from the NGT were related to adoption, the need for high quality tools and the digital divide. Strong sub-themes included privacy and security, engagement and design.

Back It Up and Simplify.

Physical inactivity and sedentary behavior increase the risk of chronic illness and death. The newest generation of “wearable” activity trackers offers potential as a multifaceted intervention to help people become more active. We looked at the usability and usefulness of wearable activity trackers for older adults living with chronic illness

32 participants over age 50, who had been previously diagnosed with a chronic illness, including vascular disease, diabetes, arthritis and osteoporosis. Participants ranged in age from 52-84 (mean 64) and 72% were female with a mean body mass index of 31kg/m2. Over a 3-week period, participants began by using a simple pedometer followed by four wearable activity trackers (Fitbit Zip, Misfit Shine, Jawbone Up 24, Withings Pulse)

“Very definitely, you know you compete with yourself. I have no one else to compete with. This winter has been hard, for going outside and walking. I used to be able to walk, or I used to be a swimmer, and now I've become a couch person… I've done the track in the house, I run up and down the stairs, down to the basement and I walk my driveway a couple of times cause it's long. I try and I compete with myself and I know that I sit or lie down much too long.” [Female, 85]

“The goal was 10,000 steps. These trackers really let you know how much more than your daily routine you really need to put in to get to that goal. Doing your normal day-to-day thing, you're not even close. [Male, 65]

A Critical Analysis of behaviour change techniques present in wearable activity trackers and their potential for use with older adults

To provide a better understanding of how the design of wearable activity trackers incorporates the behaviour change techniques that are most important for older adults to guide the research and design of wearable activity trackers for chronic disease prevention and management.

The average number of BCTs identified was 16.3/40. The Withings Pulse had the greatest number of BCTs and the Misfit Shine had the fewest. The majority of techniques centred around self-monitoring and self-regulation, all of which have been associated with improved physical activity in older adults. Techniques related to planning and providing instructions were scarce.

Thank you!