The environmental factors that influence technology adoption for older adults with age-related vision loss

2018 ◽  
Vol 82 (8) ◽  
pp. 493-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colleen McGrath ◽  
Ann Marie Corrado
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Technology Adoption ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Vision Loss ◽  
Low Vision ◽  
Assistive Device ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Technology Industry ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Assessment Activity

IntroductionWith the increasing proportion of older adults aging with vision loss, low-vision assistive devices can help to support occupational engagement; however, such devices are grossly underused among this population. The overarching purpose of this project was to examine the environmental factors that influence technology adoption for older adults with age-related vision loss.MethodsA one-day workshop, which utilized a variety of hands-on methods including Show & Tell, Technology Interaction, and an “App” Assessment activity, was conducted. A total of 19 participants attended the workshop, including 10 older adults with age-related vision loss, six caregivers, one healthcare provider, and two technology industry professionals.ResultsA total of four themes emerged, including: (1) making life harder; (2) relying on support networks; (3) factoring in the pragmatics; and (4) not me, not yet. These themes illustrate the various ways that environmental factors, including physical, social, cultural, and institutional/political factors, influence decision-making regarding technology adoption by older adults with age-related vision loss.ConclusionThis paper demonstrates several environmental factors that influence low-vision assistive device adoption among older adults with age-related vision loss. With their holistic view of clients, including an appreciation for environmental influences, occupational therapists are well positioned to help identify those environmental barriers limiting low-vision assistive device adoption and use.

The benefits and barriers to technology acquisition: Understanding the decision-making processes of older adults with age-related vision loss (ARVL)

2016 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colleen McGrath ◽  
Arlene Astell
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Vision Loss ◽  
Low Vision ◽  
Occupational Engagement ◽  
Technology Acquisition ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Vision Rehabilitation ◽  
Barriers To Technology

Introduction While research has investigated the factors influencing acquisition and use of technologies/assistive devices by older adults, few studies have addressed the decision-making processes regarding technology adoption of older adults with age-related vision loss. Method This critical ethnography engaged 10 older adults with age-related vision loss in narrative interviews, participant observation sessions, and semi-structured in-depth interviews to understand their decision-making processes related to the acquisition and use of low vision assistive devices to support occupational engagement. Findings Study findings focused on the benefits and barriers to technology acquisition and use. Benefits of technology acquisition included: enhanced occupational engagement; independence; safety; insurance; and validation of the disability, while the barriers to technology acquisition included: cost; training; usability; lack of awareness of low vision rehabilitation services; fear of being taken advantage of; and desire to preserve a preferred self-image. Conclusion Considering the low uptake of vision rehabilitation services, the study findings are important to occupational therapy. A better understanding of the perceived benefits and barriers to technology adoption from the perspective of older adults will help occupational therapists maximize treatment planning designed to enhance the occupational engagement of older adults aging with vision loss.

scholarly journals Using Participant Observation to Enable Critical Understandings of Disability in Later Life: An Illustration Conducted With Older Adults With Low Vision

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 160940691989129
Author(s):  
Colleen McGrath ◽  
Debbie Laliberte Rudman
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Vision Loss ◽  
Low Vision ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Social Constructions ◽  
New Methods ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Holistic Understanding

Research with older adults aging with vision loss has typically been informed by a biomedical theoretical framework. With a growing focus, however, on critical disability perspectives, which locates disability within the environment, new methods of data collection, such as participant observation, are needed. This article, which reports on the findings from a critical ethnographic study conducted with older adults with age-related vision loss (ARVL), aims to share those insights gained through participant observation and to demonstrate the utility of this method. Three insights were gained including the adaptive strategies tacitly employed to navigate the physical environment, a grounded understanding of social interactions that transpire in everyday contexts, and negating the presence of older adults with ARVL when accompanied by a perceived caregiver. The study findings unpack how participant observation can be used to understand social constructions of disability and gain a holistic understanding of environmental influences on the disability experience of older adults with ARVL.

Factors That Influence the Occupational Engagement of Older Adults with Low Vision: A Scoping Review

2013 ◽  
Vol 76 (5) ◽  
pp. 234-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colleen E McGrath ◽  
Debbie Laliberte Rudman
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Vision Loss ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Low Vision ◽  
Occupational Therapists ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Occupational Engagement ◽  
Personal Factors ◽  
Age Related

Introduction: Prior research has provided occupational therapists with an understanding of the negative impact of low vision on self care, leisure and productivity. In order to guide future low-vision rehabilitation services, an understanding of the factors that influence the occupational engagement of older adults with age-related vision loss (ARVL) is also needed. Method: A scoping review of the literature was conducted in order to identify those factors that have been shown to influence the occupational engagement of older adults with ARVL, and to identify future research needs. Findings: As identified in this scoping review, five types of factors were shown to influence occupational engagement for older adults with ARVL including: demographic variables, emotional components, behavioural components, diagnostic components, and environmental aspects. Conclusion: Although findings pertaining to personal factors can inform practice, few studies explored the influence of environmental factors on occupational engagement. Given that occupation is a result of person-environment transactions, it is important that future research more fully explores environmental influences in order to enable occupational therapists to deliver services that optimize the occupational performance of seniors with ARVL.

Setting research priorities in age-related vision loss: The first step in a critical participatory action research approach

2021 ◽  
pp. 026461962098421
Author(s):  
Colleen McGrath
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Vision Loss ◽  
Community Support ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Activity Engagement ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Critical Participatory Action Research

There are no known examples of studies utilizing a critical participatory action research (CPAR) approach with older adults aging with vision loss, to better understand how environmental factors impact activity engagement. As such, the aim of this article was to share the process of initiating a CPAR approach with older adults with age-related vision loss to identify a set of research and/or rehabilitation priorities related to the influence of physical, social, cultural, political, and institutional environmental factors on activity engagement. This study utilized a CPAR approach. Eight older adults (aged 65 years of age and older) with a diagnosis of age-related vision loss (including macular degeneration, glaucoma, and/or diabetic retinopathy) took part in three half-day meetings as well as a one-on-one interview over a period of 2 months. Through a series of facilitated group discussions, the older adults identified research and/or rehabilitation priorities related to how environmental influences support or limit the participation of older adults with age-related vision loss (ARVL) in everyday activities. Three research and/or rehabilitation priorities were identified including (1) community mobility; (2) assistive technology; and (3) community support and services. For each priority, the older adults, along with the researchers, answered four key questions including (1) What do we need to know more about? (i.e., research question); (2) How could we learn more about this? (i.e., proposed methods of data collection); (3) Who would we need to involve as key stakeholders? (i.e., participants); and (4) What would change look like? (i.e., action potential). This study shared the process of initiating a CPAR process with eight older adults with ARVL to identify research and/or rehabilitation priorities. By doing so, this study will help to provide direction for future ARVL research and rehabilitation that is grounded, methodologically, in a CPAR approach.

scholarly journals A Protocol Paper on the Preservation of Identity: Understanding the Technology Adoption Patterns of Older Adults With Age-Related Vision Loss (ARVL)

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 160940691983183
Author(s):  
Colleen McGrath ◽  
Monica L. Molinaro ◽  
Elena J. Sheldrake ◽  
Debbie Laliberte Rudman ◽  
Arlene Astell
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Technology Adoption ◽  
Vision Loss ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Recruitment Strategy ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Older Adult Population

There are a growing number of older adults with age-related vision loss (ARVL) for whom technology holds promise in supporting their engagement in daily activities. Despite the growing presence of technologies intended to support older adults with ARVL, there remains high rates of abandonment. This phenomenon of technology abandonment may be partly explained by the concept of self-image, meaning that older adults with ARVL avoid the use of particular technologies due to an underlying fear that use of such technologies may mark them as objects of pity, ridicule, and/or stigmatization. In response to this, the proposed study aims to understand how the decision-making processes of older adults with ARVL, as it relates to technology adoption, are influenced by the negotiation of identity. The study protocol will justify the need for this critical ethnographic study; unpack the theoretical underpinnings of this work; detail the sampling/recruitment strategy; and describe the methods which included a home tour, go-along, and semistructured in-depth interview, as well as the collective approach taken to analyze the data. The protocol concludes by examining the ethical tensions associated with this study, including a focus on the methods adopted as well as the ethical challenges inherent when working with an older adult population experiencing vision loss.

A population study of correlates of social participation in older adults with age-related vision loss

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Verena R Cimarolli ◽  
Kathrin Boerner ◽  
Joann P Reinhardt ◽  
Amy Horowitz ◽  
Hans-Werner Wahl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Social Participation ◽  
Vision Loss ◽  
Age Related Macular Degeneration ◽  
Social Contacts ◽  
Income Adequacy ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Social Leisure

Objective: To examine personal characteristics, disease-related impairment variables, activity limitations, and environmental factors as correlates of social participation in older adults with vision loss guided by the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Model. Design: Baseline data of a larger longitudinal study. Setting: Community-based vision rehabilitation agency. Subjects: A total of 364 older adults with significant vision impairment due to age-related macular degeneration. Main Measures: In-person interviews assessing social participation (i.e. frequency of social support contacts, social/leisure challenges faced due to vision loss, and of social support provided to others) and hypothesized correlates (e.g. visual acuity test, Functional Vision Screening Questionnaire, ratings of attachment to house and neighborhood, environmental modifications in home). Results: Regression analyses showed that indicators of physical, social, and mental functioning (e.g. better visual function, fewer difficulties with instrumental activities of daily living, fewer depressive symptoms) were positively related to social participation indicators (greater social contacts, less challenges in social/leisure domains, and providing more support to others). Environmental factors also emerged as independent correlates of social participation indicators when functional variables were controlled. That is, participants reporting higher attachment to their neighborhood and better income adequacy reported having more social contacts; and those implementing more environmental strategies were more likely to report greater challenges in social and leisure domains. Better income adequacy and living with more people were related to providing more social support to others. Conclusion: Environmental variables may play a role in the social participation of older adults with age-related macular degeneration.

scholarly journals Semi-Autonomous Vehicles as a Cognitive Assistive Device for Older Adults

Geriatrics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 63
Author(s):  
Frank Knoefel ◽  
Bruce Wallace ◽  
Rafik Goubran ◽  
Iman Sabra ◽  
Shawn Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Autonomous Vehicles ◽  
Cognitive Change ◽  
Health Needs ◽  
Assistive Device ◽  
Cognitive Changes ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Vehicle Automation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Aging Drivers

Losing the capacity to drive due to age-related cognitive decline can have a detrimental impact on the daily life functioning of older adults living alone and in remote areas. Semi-autonomous vehicles (SAVs) could have the potential to preserve driving independence of this population with high health needs. This paper explores if SAVs could be used as a cognitive assistive device for older aging drivers with cognitive challenges. We illustrate the impact of age-related changes of cognitive functions on driving capacity. Furthermore, following an overview on the current state of SAVs, we propose a model for connecting cognitive health needs of older drivers to SAVs. The model demonstrates the connections between cognitive changes experienced by aging drivers, their impact on actual driving, car sensors’ features, and vehicle automation. Finally, we present challenges that should be considered when using the constantly changing smart vehicle technology, adapting it to aging drivers and vice versa. This paper sheds light on age-related cognitive characteristics that should be considered when developing future SAVs manufacturing policies which may potentially help decrease the impact of cognitive change on older adult drivers.

scholarly journals The Impact of Assistive Device Use on Disability and Depression Among Older Adults With Age-Related Vision Impairments

2006 ◽  
Vol 61 (5) ◽  
pp. S274-S280 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Horowitz ◽  
M. Brennan ◽  
J. P. Reinhardt ◽  
T. MacMillan
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Assistive Device ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Device Use ◽  
The Impact

Challenges faced by older adults with vision loss: a qualitative study with implications for rehabilitation

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 748-757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Verena R Cimarolli ◽  
Kathrin Boerner ◽  
Mark Brennan-Ing ◽  
Joann P Reinhardt ◽  
Amy Horowitz
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Vision Loss ◽  
Age Related Macular Degeneration ◽  
Functional Domain ◽  
Social Challenges ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Vision Rehabilitation ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Over Time

Objective: To provide an in-depth assessment of challenges faced by older adults with recent vision loss and to determine changes in the nature of these challenges over time for the purpose of informing the design of vision rehabilitation services. Design: Longitudinal, qualitative study with three time points. Setting: Vision rehabilitation agency. Subjects: Three hundred and sixty-four older adults aged 65 with significant vision impairment due to age-related macular degeneration. Interventions: In-person interviews conducted at baseline, one year and two years and coded using a qualitative analytical approach. Main measures: Open-ended questions assessing challenges faced due to vision loss in functional, social and psychological life domains. Results: Almost all participants reported a wide variety of challenges across all three domains with the most variety in the functional domain. Over a two-year period, functional challenges (e.g. using transportation) increased, social challenges (e.g. recognizing people) remained stable, and psychological challenges (e.g. negative affect) decreased overall. Conclusions: Although functional challenges are predominant, social and psychological challenges are quite common and need to be addressed in vision rehabilitation. Rehabilitation planning should also consider that vision-related challenges can change over time.

Réapprendre à voir le monde : Rééduquer les personnes atteintes de dégénérescence maculaire en exploitant les capacités perceptives et cognitives de la vision périphérique

2005 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 339-352
Author(s):  
Guillaume Giraudet ◽  
Christian Corbé ◽  
Corinne Roumes
Keyword(s):  
Visual Information ◽  
Vision Loss ◽  
Peripheral Vision ◽  
Low Vision ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Age Related Macular Degeneration ◽  
Sensory Data ◽  
Eccentric Fixation ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Vision Care

ABSTRACTAge-related macular degeneration (ARMD) is a frequent cause of vision loss among people over age of 60. It is an aging process involving a progressive degradation of the central retina. It does not induce total blindness, since it does not affect the peripheral vision. Nonetheless, it makes difficult to read, drive, and perform all daily activities requiring fine details perception. Low-vision care consists in inducing an eccentric fixation so that relevant visual targets impact an unaffected retinal locus. It is necessary but not sufficient to enhance visual extraction. The present work aims to draw the attention of low-vision professionals to the necessity of developing new re-education tools. Beyond the perceptual re-education linked to an optimization of visual information extraction, a cognitive re-education should also be provided in order to enhance the interpretation processes. Indeed, the spatial-frequency properties of the visual world no longer match patient perceptual habits. The visually impaired person has to learn again to use these new sensory data in an optimal way. Contextual information can be a precious help in this learning process. An experimental study involving young people provides elements for another method of low-vision care, in terms of visual cognitive re-education.

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