Developing a pragmatic evaluation of ICTs for older adults with cognitive impairment at scale: the IN LIFE experience

Astell, A. J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6822-9472, Panou, M., Touliou, K., Karavidopolou, Y., Cabrera-Umpiérrez, M.-F., Aldaz, E., Bizjak, J., Black, B., Buchholz, M., Chamorro Mata, J., Cossu-Ergecer, F., Debring, S., Dekker van-Weering, M., Ekström, A., Gams, M., Garcia Soler, A., Gradišek,, A., Goljuf, K., Kaimakamis, E., Kaklanis, N., Kilintzis, V., Laakso, K., Maglaveras, N., Montalvá Colomer, J. B., Papageorgiou, V., Potter, S., Samuelsson, C., Smith, S. k. and Tabak, M. (2021) Developing a pragmatic evaluation of ICTs for older adults with cognitive impairment at scale: the IN LIFE experience. Universal Access in the Information Society. ISSN 1615-5289 doi: 10.1007/s10209-021-00849-5

Abstract/Summary

Implementing information and communications technology (ICT) at scale requires evaluation processes to capture the impact on users as well as the infrastructure into which it is being introduced. For older adults living with cognitive impairment this requires evaluation that can accommodate different levels of cognitive impairment, alongside input from family and formal caregivers, plus stakeholder organisations. The European Horizon 2020 project INdependent LIving support Functions for the Elderly (IN LIFE) set out to integrate 17 technologies into a single digital platform for older people living with cognitive impairment plus their families, care providers and stakeholders. The IN LIFE evaluation took place across six national pilot sites to examine a number of variables including impact on the users, user acceptance of the individual services and the overall platform, plus the economic case for the IN LIFE platform. The results confirmed the interest and need among older adults, family caregivers, formal caregivers and stakeholders, for information and communications technology (ICT). Relative to the baseline, quality of life improved and cognition stabilized, however, there was an overall reluctance to pay for the platform. The findings provide insights into existing barriers and challenges for adoption of ICT for older people living with cognitive impairment.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/98299
Identification Number/DOI	10.1007/s10209-021-00849-5
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Ageing
Publisher	Springer
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