Exploring the Potential of Emerging Technologies to Meet the Care and Support Needs of Older People: A Delphi Survey

Some emerging technologies have potential to address older people’s care and support needs. However, there is still a gap in the knowledge on the potential uses of these technologies in some care domains. Therefore, a two-round Delphi survey was conducted to establish a consensus of opinion from a g...

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Main Authors: Sarah Abdi, Luc de Witte, Mark Hawley
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-02-01
Series:Geriatrics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3417/6/1/19
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author Sarah Abdi
Luc de Witte
Mark Hawley
author_facet Sarah Abdi
Luc de Witte
Mark Hawley
author_sort Sarah Abdi
collection DOAJ
description Some emerging technologies have potential to address older people’s care and support needs. However, there is still a gap in the knowledge on the potential uses of these technologies in some care domains. Therefore, a two-round Delphi survey was conducted to establish a consensus of opinion from a group of health and social technology experts (<i>n</i> = 21) on the potential of 10 emerging technologies to meet older people’s needs in five care and support domains. Experts were also asked to provide reasons for their choices in free-text spaces. The consensus level was set at 70%. Free-text responses were analyzed using thematic analysis. Voice activated devices was the technology that reached experts consensus in all assessed care domains. Some technologies (e.g., Artificial intelligence (AI) enabled apps and wearables and Internet of things (IoT) enabled homes) also show potential to support basic self-care and access to healthcare needs of older people. However, most of the remaining technologies (e.g., robotics, exoskeletons, virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR)) face a range of technical and acceptability issues that may hinder their adoption by older people in the near future. Findings should encourage the R & D community to address some of the identified challenges to improve the adoption of emerging technologies by older people.
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spelling doaj.art-66d0a424f4b54dfeb4d03d65653b66792023-12-11T16:59:19ZengMDPI AGGeriatrics2308-34172021-02-01611910.3390/geriatrics6010019Exploring the Potential of Emerging Technologies to Meet the Care and Support Needs of Older People: A Delphi SurveySarah Abdi0Luc de Witte1Mark Hawley2Centre for Assistive Technology and Connected Healthcare, School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 4DP, UKCentre for Assistive Technology and Connected Healthcare, School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 4DP, UKCentre for Assistive Technology and Connected Healthcare, School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 4DP, UKSome emerging technologies have potential to address older people’s care and support needs. However, there is still a gap in the knowledge on the potential uses of these technologies in some care domains. Therefore, a two-round Delphi survey was conducted to establish a consensus of opinion from a group of health and social technology experts (<i>n</i> = 21) on the potential of 10 emerging technologies to meet older people’s needs in five care and support domains. Experts were also asked to provide reasons for their choices in free-text spaces. The consensus level was set at 70%. Free-text responses were analyzed using thematic analysis. Voice activated devices was the technology that reached experts consensus in all assessed care domains. Some technologies (e.g., Artificial intelligence (AI) enabled apps and wearables and Internet of things (IoT) enabled homes) also show potential to support basic self-care and access to healthcare needs of older people. However, most of the remaining technologies (e.g., robotics, exoskeletons, virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR)) face a range of technical and acceptability issues that may hinder their adoption by older people in the near future. Findings should encourage the R & D community to address some of the identified challenges to improve the adoption of emerging technologies by older people.https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3417/6/1/19Delphiartificial intelligencevoice activated devicesroboticsolder peoplecare and support
spellingShingle Sarah Abdi
Luc de Witte
Mark Hawley
Exploring the Potential of Emerging Technologies to Meet the Care and Support Needs of Older People: A Delphi Survey
Geriatrics
Delphi
artificial intelligence
voice activated devices
robotics
older people
care and support
title Exploring the Potential of Emerging Technologies to Meet the Care and Support Needs of Older People: A Delphi Survey
title_full Exploring the Potential of Emerging Technologies to Meet the Care and Support Needs of Older People: A Delphi Survey
title_fullStr Exploring the Potential of Emerging Technologies to Meet the Care and Support Needs of Older People: A Delphi Survey
title_full_unstemmed Exploring the Potential of Emerging Technologies to Meet the Care and Support Needs of Older People: A Delphi Survey
title_short Exploring the Potential of Emerging Technologies to Meet the Care and Support Needs of Older People: A Delphi Survey
title_sort exploring the potential of emerging technologies to meet the care and support needs of older people a delphi survey
topic Delphi
artificial intelligence
voice activated devices
robotics
older people
care and support
url https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3417/6/1/19
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