Effects of technology use on ageing in place: The iZi pilots

Abstract

In the iZi study in The Hague, use and acceptance of commercially available technology by home-dwelling older citizens was studied, by comparing self-efficacy and perceived physical and mental Quality of Life (QoL)-related parameters on an intervention location of 279 households and a control location of 301 households. Technology adoption was clinically significantly associated with increased perceived physical QoL, as compared with control group, depending on the number of technology interventions that were used. A higher number of adopted technologies was associated with a stronger effect on perceived QoL. We tried to establish a way to measure clinical significance by using mixed methods, combining quantitative and qualitative evaluation and feeding results and feedback of participants directly back into our intervention. In general, this research is promising, since it shows that successful and effective adoption of technology by older people is feasible with commercially available products amongst home-dwelling older citizens. We think this way of working provides a better integration of scientific methods and clinical usability but demands a lot of communication and patience of researchers, citizens, and policymakers. A change in policy on how to target people for this kind of intervention might be warranted.