Designing and evaluating an intelligent augmented reality system for assisting older adults’ medication management

Intelligent Assistive Systems (IASs) provide personalised support to individuals to increase their autonomy and competence in performing activities. The personalisation of such technology represents a particular challenge, for the individuals abilities typically change over time. The aim of this research was to explore a theory-based, activity-centred framework for the development of IASs that both facilitate the active involvement of caregivers and target users and allow for adaptation to the individual over time.Medication management was focused on as a case study. Three older adults and two caregivers were involved in a co-design process of an IAS prototype system, the MED-AR, which uses projection-based augmented reality as the user interface technology. The theoretical framework for the design and evaluation of the MED-AR was activity theory. For the decision-making process of the MED-AR, formal argumentation theory was used. The major contributions of the study are (i) a formal framework for understanding the level of independence in activities and the way an IAS can tailor support to an individual and a situation, including caregivers; and (ii) a model for involving older adults and caregivers in a co-design process in the first phases of developing IASs.     

Changing Attitudes Toward Older Adults Through a Simulated Aging Exercise: Implications for Family Therapy

Past research suggests that many young people hold negative attitudes toward the elderly. Simulated aging is one method to reduce aging that had been successfully applied with those individuals working in the helping professions. However, it has not yet been applied to ordinary young adults. The current study examined whether a simulated aging activity would cause more positive attitudes toward the aged, an increased desire to help, and higher satisfaction with life. Seventy-eight college students participated; half were randomly assigned to complete three tasks with sensory deficits designed to simulate aging (i.e., wearing non-magnified glasses covered with petroleum jelly, wearing foam earplugs, and wearing cloth gloves), and half served as the control. Three questionnaires were completed that measured attitudes toward older adults, prosocial desires, and satisfaction with life. Results showed that young adults who experienced simulated aging had more favorable attitudes toward older adults than did individuals in the control condition. These results suggest that simulated aging activities may be an effective method to reduce ageism. This has potential implications for multigenerational family therapy, such as to assist younger people to understand what their grandparents may be experiencing.