INCLUSIVE DESIGN FOR AN

AGING POPULATION

ASPECTS OF AGING
Physical

Decrease in energy level

Hearing loss

Development of arthritis

Reduction of muscle strength/bone density

Decreased memory

Reduction in reaction time

Social

Decreased independence

Changing social status and role

Isolation

PRESENTATION OVERVIEW
1. Aging and New Technology

Article 1: Supporting Healthy Aging with New Technology

Article 2: Training Older Adults to Use New Technology

2. Improving Cognitive Function in Older Adults

Article 3: Brain Training Game Improves Executive Functions

and Processing Speed in Elderly

Exercise: Visual Cognition Game "Blink"

Article 4: Non-traditional Approaches to Improving Cognitive

Function in Older Adults

3. Designing for Elderly

Additional Topic: MIT AgeLAB's AGNES

SUPPORTING HEALTHY AGING

WITH NEW TECHNOLOGY

INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION

TECHNOLOGIES

Aid us in everyday activities

Increase divide between younger and older generations

Older adults' use of ICTs lags behind younger adults' use of

ICTs

Limits older adults' abilities to remain independent and

healthy

INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION

TECHNOLOGIES
It is important that we:
Design ICTs to assist older adults to remain independent
Help older adults recognize benefits of technology
Help older adults use technology effectively

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE USE OF

ICTS

Functionality

Value

Design

Cost

Privacy

Trust

Acceptance

AWARE HOME RESEARCH

INITIATIVE
Projects have focused on:
Supporting communication between family caregivers and

older adults
Cognitive reminders for medication management
Cooking practices
Assistive device that guides interactions with medical devices
Video

DIGITAL FAMILY PORTRAIT

Similar to traditional portrait

Digital frame changes daily

Portrait captures observations that

would occur naturally to someone
living next door or in the same
home

MEMORY MIRROR

Records time that tagged objects are picked up and returned

to shelf

Image of object placed on the Memory Mirror

COOK'S COLLAGE

Provides visual summary of ongoing cooking activity

THE TECHNOLOGY COACH

Provides ongoing feedback to assist older adults in using home

medical devices

System watches the user via different tracking technologies

and provides appropriate guidance

DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY FOR

HEALTHY AGING INITIATIVE
(DATHA)
Goal of DATHA is to:
Bring together researchers, industry, practitioners, and

service providers
Identify, develop, and implement new technology that

encourage healthy aging

Equip young population with tools necessary to design for

older generation

Students:
Developed relationships with different types of residents
Visited residents in the community and in their homes
Documented observations of resident's experience with ICTs

THE 2-LINK
Portable device focused

on connecting community
residents through
scheduling, messaging,
and photo sharing
Purpose of 2-Link was to:
Provide advanced

technology in a simple
way
Offer split screen to

physical represent split

between personal and
community
Take the first step toward

JITTERBUG

Simple cell phones

designed specifically for
older users

Features:
Soft ear cushion with

powerful speaker
Bright screen with

large text
Large, simple, backlit

action buttons

TRAINING OLDER ADULTS TO USE

NEW TECHNOLOGY

OVERVIEW

Enabling older adults to interact safely and efficiently with

new technologies

Developing training programs

Considering younger and older adults

Desired results

Immediate performance

Learning

Present study

Assessed relative benefits of each training for younger

and older adults learning how to use a novel technology
system

Guided action training

Guided attention training

RECOMMENDATIONS

Literature suggests:
Provide self-paced training
Use goal-oriented training
Require specific procedural training
Minimize working memory (WM) demands

Difficult to balance recommendations

Attention allocation-working memory example
Solution
Find level at which working memory is engaged but

not overloaded

PRESENT STUDY

Assessed two types of training:

Guided action versus guided attention

Context of immediate performance versus learning

Hypotheses
Guided action training

Reduces working memory demands

Best for older adults

Guided attention training

Requires engagement and active processing

Best for younger adults

EXPERIMENT DESIGN

2 x 2 between-participants
design
Training conditions (2) x
Age (2)
Variables
Participants

Hydroponic garden control

system
Simulated menu structure
with multiple functions
Intentionally complex

EXPERIMENT PROCEDURE

Session 1

Ability testing

Session 2

Further ability
testing

Mouse training

Session 3

Refresher mouse
training

Training trials

Test trials

METHOD

RESULTS: TRAINING & TEST TRIALS

Training trials
Better performance
in guided action
condition than than
guided attention
condition

Test trials
Better performance
in guided attention
condition for both
trained and
untrained tasks than
guided action
condition

RESULTS: ROLE OF WORKING

MEMORY

Older adults showed greater benefit from guided attention

training
Enabled better performance and learning without
overloading working memory capacity

DISCUSSION

Presence of training materials

Better performance in
guided action condition
during training trials
Medical device example
Not realistic situation

Clear implications of present

study
Development of training
programs that optimize
learning of new technology

Older adults are capable of

learning new technologies

BRAIN TRAINING GAME IMPROVES EXECUTIVE

FUNCTIONS AND PROCESSING SPEED IN
ELDERLY: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TEST

COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS

Elderly may experience

decline in:

Memory

Attention

Executive functions

Processing speed

METHOD

32 elderly participants were

randomly assigned to Brain Age
group or Tetris group

All participants were nongamers

Participants in each grouped

played game 15 minutes a day
for 20 days straight

Measure of cognitive ability

conducted before and after
training

MEASURES OF COGNITIVE
FUNCTIONS

Global cognitive status

Executive functions

Planning, problem solving, verbal

reasoning

Attention

Language, memory, visuospatial

functions

Focus

Processing speed

Duration of thinking time

RESULTS: CHANGE IN COGNITIVE

SCORES

RESULTS/CONCLUSION

Effects of playing Brain Age were higher than that of playing

Tetris in all measures of cognitive function

Effects of Brain Age transferred to executive functions and

processing speed
Showed no transfer effect on global cognitive status or

attention

Participants in both groups showed significant improvement

of game performance

Visual Blink Exercise

IMPROVING COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN

OLDER ADULTS: NONTRADITIONAL
APPROACHES

OVERVIEW

Developing nontraditional interventions to improve

cognition in older adults

Nontraditional approaches:

Activation of automatic processes

Formation of implementation intentions

Exploiting intact cognitive processes

Engagement

Role of social, intellectual and emotional

engagement

PREVIOUS RESEARCH

Importance of improving cognitive function:

Maintaining independence of older citizens
Ability to perform everyday tasks adequately

Evidence that training can affect trajectory of cognitive

function
Cognitive flexibility in healthy and brain-damaged older
adults

Developing interventions that enhance cognition or limit

decline with age

MEDICAL ADHERENCE

Salient issue for older adults

Approaches to improving
medical adherence:

Training component
processes

Improved performance

No transfer effect to
daily activities

Non-training approaches

Provision of external
cues and reminders

Reorganization of
medical information

APPROACH #1:
ACTIVATION OF AUTOMATIC
PROCESSES

Formation of implementation intentions:

Imagining a detailed plan to perform specific actions

Increases probability of goal achievement

Environmental cues

Strengths:

Completion of desired behaviors

Shielding desired goals from negative influences

"If-then" plans

Improving prospective memory

Weaknesses:

Imagination inflation

APPROACH #1:
"CHRISTMAS EVE" EXAMPLE

Conducted in laboratory setting

Recruited college students to

write brief report about their
Christmas Eve within two days
of event

Two conditions:
1.

Simply agreeing to
complete task
Results
2.

Developing implementation
intentions

APPROACH #1:
GLUCOSE MONITORING EXAMPLE

Conducted in a naturalistic
setting

Studied the ability of older

adults to remember to monitor
their glucose at four
predetermined times of day
Length: same time,
everyday for three weeks
Three groups:
Rehearsal
Deliberation
Implementation
Results

APPROACH #2: ENGAGEMENT

Examining effects of engagement in social and leisure

activities on maintaining or enhancing cognitive function

Evidence from previous research

"Use it or lose it" hypothesis

APPROACH #2:
RECEPTIVE VS. PRODUCTIVE
ENGAGEMENT

Receptive engagement
Engaging in behaviors that

utilize familiar skills and

existing schemas

Productive engagement
Produces cognitive

facilitation effects
Requires acquisition of

new skills and schemas

Piano example

Theater acting example

Requires deep processing

of character motives and

interactions

APPROACH #2: VIVA! PROGRAM

Developed at University of Illinois

Objective

Study the impact of learning to quilt or learning to

perform digital photography on cognitive function in
older adults

Considerations

Participants

Control group

Measuring behavior through basic processes

Future research

MIT AgeLAB's AGNES

DESCRIPTION

Designed "aging suit" to

provide insight into the
physical effects of aging

Goal

Design a future that is

accessible and engaging
for people every age

Features:

Increased fatigue

Reduced flexibility in
joints and muscles

Spinal compression

Difficulty with vision and

balance

More

THE END