‘That's for old so and so's!’: does identity influence older adults’ technology adoption decisions?
Abstract
The role of identity in older adults’ decision-making about assistive technology adoption has been suggested but not fully explored. This scoping review was conducted to understand better how older adults’ self-image and their desire to maintain this influence their decision-making processes regarding assistive technology adoption. Using the five-stage scoping review framework by Arksey and O'Malley, a total of 416 search combinations were run across nine databases, resulting in a final yield of 49 articles. From these 49 articles, five themes emerged: (a) resisting the negative reality of an ageing and/or disabled identity; (b) independence and control are key; (c) the aesthetic dimension of usability; (d) assistive technology as a last resort; and (e) privacy versus pragmatics. The findings highlight the importance of older adults’ desire to portray an identity consistent with independence, self-reliance and competence, and how this desire directly impacts their assistive technology decision-making adoption patterns. These findings aim to support the adoption of assistive technologies by older adults to facilitate engagement in meaningful activities, enable social participation within the community, and promote health and wellbeing in later life.
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Adult children, spouses and other live-in or live-out residents can impact misuse, non-use and adoption of health and care technology in multi-generational households.
“research on multi-generational households show that adult children, spouses and other live-in or live-out residents can impact misuse, non-use and adoption of health and care technology [6,33,37].”
From Amazon Echo Show as a Multimodal Human-to-Human Care Support Tool within Self-Isolating Older UK Households (2022) · cites this paper as [6]
Health and wellbeing studies have shown the need to evaluate different healthcare interventions at different points in time, such as pre- and post-installation.
“We build on work that has shown how health and wellbeing studies have shown the need to evaluate different healthcare interventions at different points in time [57] e.g. pre- and post-installation, for the research and design of novel technologies [7], where health and wellbeing interventions are well documented [14].”
From Amazon Echo Show as a Multimodal Human-to-Human Care Support Tool within Self-Isolating Older UK Households (2022) · cites this paper as [7]
Cites
Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology
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“Despite the extensive literature focusing on factors that influence technology adoption (Davis, 1989; Venkatesh, 2000; Venkatesh and Davis, 2000; Czaja et al., 2006; Chen and Chan, 2014; Create Centre, 2017), identity has not previously been identified as a key factor.”
BackgroundSanders, C., Rogers, A., Bowen, R., Bower, P., Hirani, S., Cartwright, M., Fitzpatrick, R., Knapp, M., Barlow, J., Hendy, J., et al. (2012) · BMC Health Services Research · doi:10.1186/1472-6963-12-220 · Cited by 450 · see citing works
‘But obviously not for me’: robots, laboratories and the defiant identity of elder test users
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Assistive Technology Use and Stigma
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Assistive Robotics and an Ecology of Elders Living Independently in Their Homes
Forlizzi, J., DiSalvo, C., & Gemperle, F. (2004) · Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1207/s15327051hci1901&2_3 · Cited by 224 · see citing works
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Soubutts, E., Ayobi, A., Eardley, R., McNaney, R., Cater, K., & O'Kane, A. A. (2022) · Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1145/3555193 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
- Authors
- Astell, A. J., McGrath, C., & Dove, E.
- Affiliations
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Western University (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Dove, Erica
- Venue
- Ageing and Society
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2019-03-19
- Volume
- 40
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 1550-1576
- ISSN
- 0144-686X (ISSN-L)
- 1469-1779
- OpenAlex
- W2924376251
- Cited by
- 112
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 19 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 5 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 18.15
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Ageing and Society (publishedVersion)
- CentAUR (University of Reading) (acceptedVersion)
- Scholarship@Western (Western University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Demography › Technology Use by Older Adults
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Assistive Technology in Communication and Mobility
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Keywords
- assistive technology adoption, older adults, identity, self-image, independence, self-reliance, privacy, decision-making, social participation (health and rehabilitation)
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