Technology for Healthy Aging and Wellbeing: Co-producing Solutions.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Astell AJ
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8674183 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Background With the development trend of healthy aging and intelligent integration, escort products have become a new means of healthy aging. Healthy old-age care pays attention to the convenience and informatization of life. To meet the needs, designers often design multiple accompanying product solutions, and it is very important to use reasonable evaluation methods to decide on the optimal solution. Purposes A new comprehensive evaluation method is proposed to reduce the subjectivity and one-sidedness of the selection process of intelligent escort product design solutions, and to make the decision more objective and reasonable. Such decisions can enhance the experience and naturalness of the elderly using intelligent products. Methods First, a large number of user interviews were analyzed using the grounded theory, gradually refine through theoretical coding, and abstracted with the design scheme evaluation index. Second, the idea of game-theoretic weighting is used to optimize a linear combination of subjective and objective weights to determine the final weights of each evaluation indicator. Finally, the evaluation and selection are completed based on the solution ranking determined by the approximate ideal solution ranking method (TOPSIS). It is applied for the selection of the elderly escort robot design, and the usability test is conducted using the PSSUQ to verify the selection results. Results A new comprehensive evaluation method can better complete the preferential selection of product design solutions for healthy aging escorts, and reduce the subjectivity and one-sidedness of the evaluation. Conclusion This method compensates for the reliance on personal experience in the selection of options, and improve the subjectivity of the evaluation index determination process and the deviation of index weighting. Improving the objectivity and scientificity of decision-making reduces the blindness of design and production. It also provides a theoretical reference for the research scholars of healthy aging companion products.
| S-EPMC9530995 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background and objectivesThere is a growing interest to involve older adults in the co-design of technology to maintain their well-being and independence. What remains unknown is whether the beneficial effects of co-designed solutions are greater than those reported for non co-designed solutions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects and experiences of co-designed technology that support older adults to age in place.Research design and methodsWe conducted a systematic review to (a) investigate the health and well-being outcomes of co-designed technology for older adults (≥60 years), (b) identify co-design approaches and contexts where they are applied, and (c) identify barriers and facilitators of the co-design process with older adults. Searches were conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Science Citation Index (Web of Science), Scopus, OpenGrey, and Business Source Premiere.ResultsWe identified 14,649 articles and included 34 projects. Four projects reported health and well-being outcomes; the effects were inconsistent. Co-design processes varied greatly and in their intensity of older adult involvement. Common facilitators of and barriers to co-design included the building of relationships between stakeholders, stakeholder knowledge of problems and solutions, and expertise in the co-design methodology.Discussion and implicationsThe effect of co-designed technology on health and well-being was rarely studied and it was difficult to ascertain its impact. Future co-design efforts need to address barriers unique to older adults. Evaluation of the impact of co-designed technologies is needed and standardization of the definition of co-design would be helpful to researchers and designers.
| S-EPMC8437501 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Improved nature provision in urban environments offers great potential for achieving both biodiversity conservation and public health objectives. Yet there are few experimental studies that address links between specific natural environments and physiological and/or psychological changes that could contribute to the health and wellbeing co-benefits of urban nature. In addition, relative to green space, the salutogenic impact of aquatic environments are understudied. Here, we present a feasibility study examining the use of low-cost wearable technology to quantify the psychophysiological effects of short-term exposure to urban wetlands. The study took place at the WWT London Wetland Centre, which is characterized by its contrasting biodiverse wetland habitat and surrounding urban setting. Thirty-six healthy participants experienced counterbalanced exposures to an indoor space, a wetland, an urban site. We continuously recorded electroencephalographic (EEG) data and real-time physiological stress responses; with additional monitoring of post-exposure self-reported mood states. We found a significant effect of site on mean resting heart rate (HR), with increased HR in the urban setting, although this was only observed in participants with pre-existing high stress. We found no significant differences in other measures of physiological stress responses (heart rate variability and electrodermal activity). The EEG data showed modulation of high beta band activity only in the wetland setting, potentially related to changes in attention. However, the EEG findings were confounded by low quality signals and artifacts caused by movement and environmental interference. Assessments of self-reported mood states demonstrated an increase in positive feelings in the wetland setting. A pronounced decrease in negative feelings in the wetland setting was observed in stressed individuals only. Our results suggest that pre-existing stress levels may be an important modulator of the salutogenic effect of blue-green space. We provide partial support for the hypothesis that exposure to blue-green space promotes stress recovery and for the use of low-cost psychophysiological measurements to quantify the potential stress-reducing effects of blue-green space exposure in urban dwellers. Further technological refinement is required for this approach to become a viable tool to support evidence-based decision-making for public health and green/blue space provision.
| S-EPMC6700336 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background and objectivesWith the emergence of healthy aging as a key societal issue in recent decades, technology has often been proposed as a solution to the challenges faced by aging societies. From a public health perspective, however, aging-related technologies have been inconsistently conceptualized and ill-defined. By examining how relevant concepts in "technology for aging" have been developed to date, we hope to identify gaps and begin clarifying the topic.Research design and methodsWe conducted a scoping review according to PRISMA-ScR, drawing on PubMed and Embase. We selected articles that directly reported concepts of technology for aging, or from which such concepts could be inferred.ResultsWe identified 43 articles, most of which were narrative reviews (n = 31). Concepts of technology for aging were presented in diverse ways with some overlap. Most studies provided some terminology (n = 36), but with little conceptual uniformity. Conceptual discourse was often focused on the aging agenda; while technological aspects were poorly defined. A conceptual framework from a public health perspective was derived from 8 articles-it showed that technology strategies do not take a population approach.Discussion and implicationsWhile the potential of "technology for aging" is vast, its real capacity to deliver a desirable life for older people remains underdeveloped. Clearer concepts and realistic goals at population level are lacking. Efficient investment must be made throughout the social system, and technology needs to be integrated via macro-level practices.
| S-EPMC8437509 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC9314109 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundWellbeing is often described as U-shaped over the life course, suggesting an apparent paradox that wellbeing remains high at older ages despite increases in impairments.Objective/hypothesesWe explore associations among age, lower body impairments-one of the most common late-life impairments-and three measures of wellbeing: life satisfaction, emotional wellbeing and somatic wellbeing. We hypothesize that age effects are positive, become stronger once lower body impairments are controlled, and are concentrated among those who have maintained their mobility. Net of confounding factors, we hypothesize that lower body impairments are associated with worse wellbeing and these effects diminish with advancing age.MethodsWe analyze the 2013 Disability and Use of Time supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (N = 1607 adults ages 60 and older). We estimate nested regression models that include age, severity of lower body impairments and confounding demographic, psychological, and socioeconomic factors and activities; test age-impairment interactions; and estimate age- and impairment-stratified models.ResultsPositive age effects were observed after controlling for lower body impairments for life satisfaction (β = 0.90; p < 0.05), although statistical significance weakened (p = 0.07) in fully adjusted models. For emotional wellbeing, adjusted age effects were negative (β = -0.05; p < 0.05) and were concentrated among those with limitations (β = -0.14; p < 0.01). For all three outcomes, severity of impairments reduced wellbeing in adjusted models. These effects were strongest for somatic wellbeing, especially for 65-74 year olds.ConclusionsOur study challenges the notion that wellbeing is U-shaped throughout the life course and underscores the critical role of mobility across wellbeing domains in later life.
| S-EPMC5610063 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Research is needed to understand attitudes toward and adoption of the broad range of technologies available to support active and healthy aging in different generations. The present article gives an overview of the GenerationTech survey and sample, and describes attitudes and acceptance related to technology in general and as a means to support active and healthy aging. A national survey was conducted with a random sample (n = 2,121) including men and women from three generations (30-39, 50-59 and 70-79-year-olds) in Sweden. The generations shared some attitudes toward and acceptance of technologies for active and healthy aging. However, what kind of technologies are preferred to support active and healthy aging and the reasons for using certain technologies differed by generation. The findings could help guide the development and implementation of technologies for active and healthy aging throughout the aging process.
| S-EPMC10191841 | biostudies-literature
Project description:In 2015-2016, the Clarence Valley in Northern New South Wales, Australia, experienced an unexpectedly high number of deaths by suicide, and the resulting distress was exacerbated by unhelpful press coverage. The local response was to adopt a community-wide positive mental health and wellbeing initiative. This paper describes the process and achievements of the initiative called 'Our Healthy Clarence'. Key stakeholders were interviewed at year two and relevant documents reviewed. Data were analysed using document and thematic analysis. Our Healthy Clarence was established following community consultation, including forums, interviews, surveys and workshops. It adopted a strengths-based approach to suicide prevention, encompassing positive health promotion, primary and secondary prevention activities, advocacy, and cross-sectoral collaboration. A stakeholder group formed to develop and enact a community mental health and wellbeing plan. Factors contributing to its successful implementation included a collective commitment to mental health and wellbeing, clarity of purpose, leadership support from key local partners, a paid independent coordinator, and inclusive and transparent governance. Stakeholders reported increased community agency, collaboration, optimism and willingness to discuss mental health, suicide and help-seeking. Our Healthy Clarence draws ideas from mental health care, community development and public health. This initiative could serve as a model for other communities to address suicide, self-harm and improve wellbeing on a whole-of-community scale.
| S-EPMC6801779 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The study of cognitive change across a life span, both in pathological and healthy samples, has been heavily influenced by developments in cognitive psychology as a theoretical paradigm, neuropsychology and other bio-medical fields; this alongside the increase in new longitudinal and cohort designs, complemented in the last decades by the evaluation of experimental interventions. Here, a review of aging databases was conducted, looking for the most relevant studies carried out on cognitive functioning in healthy older adults. The aim was to review not only longitudinal, cross-sectional or cohort studies, but also by intervention program evaluations. The most important studies, searching for long-term patterns of stability and change of cognitive measures across a life span and in old age, have shown a great range of inter-individual variability in cognitive functioning changes attributed to age. Furthermore, intellectual functioning in healthy individuals seems to decline rather late in life, if ever, as shown in longitudinal studies where age-related decline of cognitive functioning occurs later in life than indicated by cross-sectional studies. The longitudinal evidence and experimental trials have shown the benefits of aerobic physical exercise and an intellectually engaged lifestyle, suggesting that bio-psycho-socioenvironmental factors concurrently with age predict or determine both positive or negative change or stability in cognition in later life.
| S-EPMC7908458 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The process of aging results in a host of changes at the cellular and molecular levels, which include senescence, telomere shortening, and changes in gene expression. Epigenetic patterns also change over the lifespan, suggesting that epigenetic changes may constitute an important component of the aging process. The epigenetic mark that has been most highly studied is DNA methylation, the presence of methyl groups at CpG dinucleotides. These dinucleotides are often located near gene promoters and associate with gene expression levels. Early studies indicated that global levels of DNA methylation increase over the first few years of life and then decrease beginning in late adulthood. Recently, with the advent of microarray and next-generation sequencing technologies, increases in variability of DNA methylation with age have been observed, and a number of site-specific patterns have been identified. It has also been shown that certain CpG sites are highly associated with age, to the extent that prediction models using a small number of these sites can accurately predict the chronological age of the donor. Together, these observations point to the existence of two phenomena that both contribute to age-related DNA methylation changes: epigenetic drift and the epigenetic clock. In this review, we focus on healthy human aging throughout the lifetime and discuss the dynamics of DNA methylation as well as how interactions between the genome, environment, and the epigenome influence aging rates. We also discuss the impact of determining 'epigenetic age' for human health and outline some important caveats to existing and future studies.
| S-EPMC4693469 | biostudies-other