Adoption Intention and Factors Influencing the Use of Gerontechnology in Chinese Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Mixed-Methods Study

Abstract

Objective: To explore the Chinese community-dwelling intention of older adults to adopt gerontechnology and its influencing factors.Design: A mixed-methods sequential explanatory design with an inductive approach was employed. In phase 1, a self-made questionnaire was administered from August 2018 to December 2019. Multifactor logistic regression was used to analyze the adoption intention and factors influencing the use of gerontechnology. In phase 2, participants completed a semistructured interview to explore the adoption intention of a specific form of gerontechnology, Smart Aged Care Platform, from May to July 2020.Setting: Twelve communities in three districts of Chongqing, China.Participants: Community-dwelling older adults were included.Results: A total of 1,180 older adults completed the quantitative study; two-thirds of them (68.7%) showed adoption intention toward gerontechnology. Nineteen participants (10 users and nine nonusers) completed the qualitative study and four themes were explored. Through a summarized understanding of the qualitative and quantitative data, a conceptual model of influencing factors, namely, predictive, enabling, and need factors, was constructed.Conclusions: This study reveals that most Chinese community-dwelling older adults welcome the emergence of new technologies. However, there was a significant difference in the adoption intention of gerontechnology in Chinese community-dwelling older adults based on their sociodemographic and psychographic characteristics. Our findings extend previous technology acceptance models and theories and contribute to the existing resource base.

Bibliometric Review of Design for Digital Inclusion

“…First of all, research regarding technology adoption by design receives less attention in the field of DfDI, as the co-occurrence keywords "adoption" or "technology adoption" appear with significantly smaller dots (Figure 4). Existing literature regarding technology adoption could be abundant [54][55][56][57][58], but research regarding how to foster adoption by design is still insufficient. Without promoting the motivation for adoption, there will be no further usage of inclusive digital products or services among users.…”

Use and perception of gerontechnology: differences in a group of Spanish older adults

“…This is a problem that leads us to ask if said group finds this technology useful, a question that does not have a clear solution and answer as research on these issues has been scarce to date and studies published yield contradictory results. On one hand, authors such as Martı ´n and Marcos (2017), Sunkel and Ullman (2019) or Huang et al (2021) argue that older adults perceive technology as increasingly positive. Meanwhile on the other hand, researchers such as Gonz alez On ˜ate and Fanjul Peyr o (2018) or Seifert et al (2018) have observed that older adults state that these technologies do not appear to be adapted to their needs and demand, making them feel uncomfortable and ill prepared for its use.…”

“…Based on a report entitled “Technology for Adaptive Aging” by the US National Research Council (2003), literature consistently points out (Chen and Chan, 2014; Pew and Van Hemel, 2004; Martín-García, 2021b) that these technology environments, products and services are divided into five areas of development called “life domains”: Living Environments; Communication; Personal mobility and transportation; Health; and Employment, Education, Recreation or self-fulfillment. As the goal of each of these fields is to prevent, compensate or improve accessibility and usability of these products to improve the daily life of the elderly, specialist literature simplifies these areas into different categories according to their use (Huang et al , 2021; Sundgren et al , 2020) like gathering continuous data; assisting older people cognitively and socially; providing care or monitoring of health from a distance; compensating for possible technology deficits in the home environment; or into different domains based on their similarities in terms of goals or context of use (Chen and Chan, 2014); home and daily living, communication, health care, education and recreation. In this study, gerontechnology is used as an umbrella term for all of the technologies mentioned in these five main areas.…”

Analysis of demand and influencing factors for smart senior care among older adults in underdeveloped regions of western China: a case study of Lanzhou

“…Their findings revealed that age, the number of children, the frequency of children visiting their parents, self-rated health, the presence of chronic diseases, and attitudes toward smart senior care significantly influence older individuals' willingness to choose smart senior care services. (21). In summary, existing research generally acknowledges that factors such as gender, age, number of children, living arrangements, economic affordability, healthcare and senior care security, self-rated health status, the presence of chronic illnesses, and awareness of smart senior care can influence the demand for smart senior care among the older adults.…”

“…The results showed that age, living conditions, and physical health significantly affect the acceptance of smart senior care services among the older adults. Huang et al ( 21 ) investigated the usage intentions of 1,180 older residents in 12 communities in Chongqing regarding smart products. They discovered that factors such as gender, education level, marital status, monthly income, type of health insurance, self-rated health, and the presence of chronic diseases influence the willingness of the older adults to use smart products ( 21 ).…”