Helping combat isolation and loneliness in seniors whose world is getting 'smaller'

1. Slide 1 of 18
Technologies for aging gracefully:
Keeping socially isolated and lonely
seniors connected to family and friends
Prof. Ron Baecker
The Technologies for Aging Gracefully lab (TAGlab)
Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto
Thanks to many present and past members of the lab and
to our collaborators from across Canada and the U.S.
SEE, Toronto, 23 Sept. 2015

2. The Problem
 A personal story
 Many individuals …
 Live alone, with little family and small social networks
 May have sensory and motor impairments
 May have little control over how they feel at a particular time
and when they are available for social contact
 Examples …
 Seniors living alone, in retirement homes, in long-term care
 People in long-term hospitalization, rehab, quarantine
 Individuals with chronic pain, MS, TBI, ALS
 People in hospice care
 7/24 home-bound caregivers

3. Social Isolation and Loneliness
 10 to 43% of community dwelling older adults
are socially isolated (Nicholson, 2012)
 A cohort study of 1,604 older adults in the U.S.
shows that 43% feel lonely (Perissinotto,
Cenzer, & Covinsky, 2012).

4. Consequences
 Health effects
 Depression, morbidity, stress, functional decline, death
(Edelbrock et al., 2001; Perissinotto et al., 2012; Steptoe et al., 2013)
 Health risks comparable to the dangers of smoking
cigarettes and obesity (Cornwell & Waite, 2009)
 Loneliness kills !!
 A recent 2010 meta-analysis of 148 studies reported
“50% increased likelihood of survival for participants with
stronger social relationships” (Holt-Lunstad, Smith, & Layton, 2010)
 Burden for older adults, families, social
institutions, government, taxpayers

5. Connecting Seniors …
Bringing, Keeping Families Together
 Synchronous video chat
 Skype, Google Hangouts, …
 Asynchronous messaging
 Conventional email software
 Modern messaging apps, e.g., WeChat, WhatsApp
 But we (TAGlab) knew we could do better … the
result we call “InTouch”

6. Research for the Journey through Life
 TAGlab designs and develops technology to
make seniors and their families “smarter”, i.e.,
more capable, resourceful, and independent
 Instead of … making machines “smarter” to “watch
over” and help seniors
 Design solutions in response to needs
 Identify where technology could serve human needs
and enable greater inclusion in life and in society
 Envision, design, build, test, improve, & commercialize
solutions for conditions such as AD, MCI, stroke, MS,
vision loss … and for normally aging senior citizens

7. Maslow Hierarchy
of Human Needs
 Self-actualization
 Need for a cause, calling,
vocation, fulfillment
 Esteem
 Need to feel satisfied, self confident, valuable; to have
meaningful work and activities; to develop personally
 Love
 Love, affection, sense of belonging, family, friends
 Safety
 Feeling of safety, freedom from danger or perceived danger
 Physiological needs
 Oxygen, food, water, warmth, health, fitness, seeing,
hearing, mobility

8. Field Studies, Prototype Technology
 Interview and diary studies with seniors
 Home dwellers in chronic pain
 Patients in complex continuing care hospitals
 People in retirement residences
 People in long-term care facilities
 Home health care patients
 Deployments in field trials

9. Design Implications for InTouch
 Design appliances, not software or interfaces
 Leverage pictures of family
 Focus on asynchronous messaging
 Support multimedia messaging, no need to type
 Use iconic communication, not verbal
 …
 Currently, 4th version of the technology

10. InTouch
 I don’t want it … but it’s SO simple!

11. InTouch: Wave, audio, photo, video

12. InTouch: The impact

13. First Mixed Methods Pilot Study
 1 older adult living in a retirement community
(65+, F)
 5 frail oldest old living in a long-term care
facility (average age = 87, 3 F and 2 M)
 Two month intervention with 3 interviews

14. Results
 High perceived usefulness of InTouch for
interaction with relatives
 Reduced feelings of being ‘left out”
 Increased perceived interaction with relatives
(e.g., children)

15. Second Mixed Methods Pilot Study
 13 older adults living in a more upscale
retirement community (average age = 82, 9 F
and 4 M)
 1 withdrew — already had high digital literacy
and adequate communication solutions, but her
husband continued in the study
 3 month intervention with 3 interviews

16. Preliminary Results
 Positive impact on communication with family
 10 out of 12 wanted to continue use after study
 Eight of 12 reported higher social connectedness
 Those who did not, wanted the ability to type
messages (being implemented now), and synchronous
chat (to be available next year)
 Positive impacts on well-being, self-efficacy,
comfort with technology

17. Opportunities and Challenges
 Ergonomic and digital literacy challenges
 Need for social support and family buy-in
 Different kinds of adoption and use, varying social
and cultural expectations
 Next studies
 Circle of Care
 Sunnybrook Veterans’ Hospital
 Supporting not just social goals, but also health
goals and practical goals, i.e., enabling seniors to
stay at home longer (famli.net Communications Inc.)

18. Thanks for your attention!!!!
 Email: ron@taglab.ca
 URL: http://taglab.utoronto.ca/
 Thanks to past students & collaborators and to
financial supporters
 Alzheimer’s Association (+ Intel Corp.)
 Connaught Innovation Fund, University of Toronto
 GRAND, AGE-WELL Networks of Centres of Excellence
 Google Research
 Microsoft Research
 MyVoice Inc.
 NSERC, SSHRC (NICE), OCE, CC
 Revera Inc., Christie Gardens, Extendicare, Circle of Care,
Sunnybrook Veterans Hospital