Building Community Capacity: Exploring Voice Assistants to Support Older Adults in an Independent Living Community

Abstract

Voice assistants (VAs) such as Siri or Amazon Alexa can benefit older adults by offering accessible and convenient information options and aiding living independently. Therefore, researchers have considered how VAs might support older adults. Yet, few studies have explored opportunities for VAs to support communities and the implications of this integration. This study investigates older adults' perceptions of VAs and the potential to extend VA capabilities to support an independent living community. We invited independent living residents to virtual community forums and interviews to discuss their experiences with VAs, expectations, and concerns for VA integration to support information exchange, wellness, and social connections in their community. We found that residents desired additional VA capabilities to address unique community needs, including building on existing community capacities to support VA adoption and use. We discuss VA design implications for independent living communities and recommendations to support VA sustainability in a community environment.