A Toolkit for Co-Designing towards Community-Based Active Ageing: Lessons Learned during Development

Abstract

It is increasingly recognized that community-based interventions for active ageing are more lasting and effective, yet the tools and methods for developing these interventions are lacking. This study investigates how to co-design community-based active ageing with older adults via the development of a toolkit to support this goal. Rapid reviews were conducted to understand (i) the effective behavioural change techniques for older adults, (ii) how to co-design with older adults for community-based interventions, and (iii) how to design tools for behaviour change that are easy to use. These reviews served as the foundation for developing a toolkit to support the co-design of community-based active ageing, which was evaluated during an interdisciplinary hackathon with older adults. Quantitative data from the surveys suggested that the confidence levels of students in developing interventions for health behaviour change and in co-designing with older adults increased after the hackathon, and the enjoyment of participating in the hackathon and of using the toolkit were statistically significant factors influencing this increase. Qualitative data from interviews and observations revealed how the toolkit was (un)used by the participants and what aspects of the toolkit can be improved. We encourage future researchers and practitioners to apply and adapt our research findings to the communities of older adults that they are working with.

Designing community-level integral interventions for active ageing: a systematic review from the lens of community-based participatory research

“…For studies that only report on the co-design sessions (part of the development process), future studies are needed to judge if they are incremental, i.e., how they will develop the intervention based on the feedback they received. During feedback sessions and exit interviews, to avoid socially desirable bias and con rmation bias, a researcher who was not involved in the intervention development is more suitable to collect and analyse the data (52).…”

“…Our ndings contribute to the ongoing discourse on the de nition of OA. Rather than relying solely on chronological age to categorise individuals as OA and assess their capabilities, researchers should approach the communities to which they belong (52,53). Brandt et al (2010) proposed the concept of "situated elderliness" as a more useful mindset than viewing "all OA as the same" or "each older adult as different".…”

Older Adults’ Emotional Challenges and Co-design Preferences for a Social Robot after the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…1). We followed Wang et al's toolkit [49] on co-designing with older adults to organise the workshop. The workshop aimed to examine the current emotional challenges experienced by older adults after the COVID-19 pandemic, their preferences towards social robots in different post-pandemic environments, and the design specifications of a social robot that could address these challenges.…”

“…5 and 6. We followed Wang's [49] guidelines and checklist for developing tools for co-designing with older adults on behaviour change to create our activity worksheets.…”