Aging With Long-Term Mobility Impairment: Maintaining Activities of Daily Living via Selection, Optimization, and Compensation.

Background And Objectives: There is a growing number of adults with long-term mobility impairment aging into the older adult population. Little is known about the experiences of these individuals in maintaining activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) as they face age-related changes in addition to a pre-existing mobility impairment.

Research Design And Methods: Through in-home interviews with 21 participants (ages 52-86) with long-term mobility impairment, the present study employed a qualitative description design to explore perceptions of how and why select ADL/IADL routines (e.

Older Adults' Acceptance of Activity Trackers.

Objective: To assess the usability and acceptance of activity tracking technologies by older adults.

Method: First in our multimethod approach, we conducted heuristic evaluations of two activity trackers that revealed potential usability barriers to acceptance. Next, questionnaires and interviews were administered to 16 older adults ( M = 70, SD = 3.

Responding to home maintenance challenge scenarios: the role of selection, optimization, and compensation in aging-in-place.

This study examined potential issues faced by older adults in managing their homes and their proposed solutions for overcoming hypothetical difficulties. Forty-four diverse, independently living older adults (66-85) participated in structured group interviews in which they discussed potential solutions to manage difficulties presented in four scenarios: perceptual, mobility, physical, and cognitive difficulties. The proposed solutions were classified using the Selection, Optimization, and Compensation (SOC) model.

Older Adults' Changes in Intent to Adopt Wellness Management Technologies.

Individuals are becoming more involved in managing their own health. Health self-management technologies have the potential to help older adults remain well by promoting exercise and a good diet. However, older adults may or may not decide to adopt wellness management technologies.

Older Adults' Use of and Attitudes toward Activity Monitoring Technologies.

Self-management of health is becoming increasingly important in today's healthcare climate. Activity monitoring technologies have the potential to support health self-management by tracking, storing, compiling, and providing feedback about an individual's engagement in movement activities. Older adults represent a fast growing segment of the population who may benefit from such technologies.

Challenges to Aging in Place: Understanding Home Maintenance Difficulties.

Age-related declines in capabilities may compromise older adults' ability to maintain their homes thus threatening successful aging in place. Structured interviews were conducted with forty-four independently living older adults (M(age) = 76.1, SD = 4.

Older Adults Talk Technology: Technology Usage and Attitudes.

Older adults (n = 113) participated in focus groups discussing their use of and attitudes about technology in the context of their home, work, and healthcare. Participants reported using a wide variety of technology items, particularly in their homes. Positive attitudes (i.

Understanding Aging in Place for Older Adults: A Needs Analysis.

A goal of many older adults is to remain in their own homes as they age (Beyond 50.05 Survey, 2005). However, a detailed assessment is lacking of the needs of older adults as they age in place.

Understanding the Required Resources in Line Graph Comprehension.

Visual line graphs are a prevalent form of communication as they provide a pictorial means to display relationships between entities. As such, understanding the cognitive resources required in processing line graphs would inform designers how to optimize the use of graphical displays. This study systematically investigated how graph task performance changes as a function of attention allocation (full or divided) and concurrent memory task (spatial or verbal).

Older Adults' Training Preferences for Learning to Use Technology.

Older adults may benefit from using technology in their everyday lives. However, adults over 65 may need more training than their younger counterparts given they have had less experience with technology. In this study, 113 adults between the ages of 65 and 85 participated in focus group interviews discussing their training needs and preferences for technology items used in the home.