Participatory Design in Gerontechnology: A Systematic Literature Review
Abstract
Purpose of the Study: Participatory design (PD) is widely used within gerontechnology but there is no common understanding about which methods are used for what purposes. This review aims to examine what different forms of PD exist in the field of gerontechnology and how these can be categorized. Design and Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review covering several databases. The search strategy was based on 3 elements: (1) participatory methods and approaches with (2) older persons aiming at developing (3) technology for older people. Results: Our final review included 26 studies representing a variety of technologies designed/developed and methods/instruments applied. According to the technologies, the publications reviewed can be categorized in 3 groups: Studies that (1) use already existing technology with the aim to find new ways of use; (2) aim at creating new devices; (3) test and/or modify prototypes. The implementation of PD depends on the questions: Why a participatory approach is applied, who is involved as future user(s), when those future users are involved, and how they are incorporated into the innovation process. Implications: There are multiple ways, methods, and instruments to integrate users into the innovation process. Which methods should be applied, depends on the context. However, most studies do not evaluate if participatory approaches will lead to a better acceptance and/or use of the co-developed products. Therefore, participatory design should follow a comprehensive strategy, starting with the users' needs and ending with an evaluation if the applied methods have led to better results.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Participatory design is crucial for technology adoption and in ensuring that older adults can and want to continue to use technologies, including robots.
“Participatory design is crucial for technology adoption and in ensuring that older adults can and want to continue to use technologies [32], including robots.”
From Participatory Design, Development, and Testing of Assistive Health Robots with Older Adults: An International Four-year Project (2022) · cites this paper as [32]
Cites
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: the PRISMA statement
Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., Altman, D. G., & for the PRISMA Group (2009) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.b2535 · Cited by 83,823 · see citing works
Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the PRISMA Statement.
(2009) · PubMed Central · Cited by 44,859 · see citing works
Lecture Notes in Computer Science 1205
(1999) · Industrial Robot the international journal of robotics research and application · doi:10.1108/ir.1999.04926fae.001 · Cited by 39,228 · see citing works
A Ladder Of Citizen Participation
Arnstein, S. R. (1969) · Journal of the American Institute of Planners · doi:10.1080/01944366908977225 · Cited by 17,064 · see citing works
Co-creation and the new landscapes of design
Sanders, E. B.-N., & Stappers, P. J. (2008) · CoDesign · doi:10.1080/15710880701875068 · Cited by 5,561 · see citing works
The role of google scholar in evidence reviews and its applicability to grey literature searching
Haddaway, N. R., Collins, A. M., Coughlin, D., & Kirk, S. (2015) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0138237 · Cited by 2,387 · see citing works
Factors influencing acceptance of technology for aging in place: A systematic review
Peek, S. T. M., Wouters, E. J. M., van Hoof, J., Luijkx, K. G., Boeije, H. R., & Vrijhoef, H. J. M. (2014) · International Journal of Medical Informatics · doi:10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2014.01.004 · Cited by 1,206 · see citing works
(2005) · Texas ScholarWorks (Texas Digital Library) · Cited by 1,064 · see citing works
Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science
Red. (2017) · Lexikon des gesamten Buchwesens Online · doi:10.1163/9789004337862_lgbo_com_050369 · Cited by 903 · see citing works
Lee, C., & Coughlin, J. F. (2015) · Journal of Product Innovation Management · doi:10.1111/jpim.12176 · Cited by 771 · see citing works
Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences
Bates, M. J., & Maack, M. N. (2009) · doi:10.1201/9780203757635 · Cited by 732 · see citing works
Shah, S. G. S., Robinson, I., & AlShawi, S. (2009) · International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care · doi:10.1017/s0266462309990328 · Cited by 237 · see citing works
Rogers, Y., Paay, J., Brereton, M. F., Vaisutis, K., Marsden, G., & Vetere, F. (2014) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/2556288.2557184 · Cited by 227 · see citing works
Review: Seven Matters of Concern of Social Robots and Older People
Frennert, S., & Östlund, B. (2014) · International Journal of Social Robotics · doi:10.1007/s12369-013-0225-8 · Cited by 197 · see citing works
Reeder, B., Meyer, E., Lazar, A., Chaudhuri, S., Thompson, H. J., & Demiris, G. (2013) · International Journal of Medical Informatics · doi:10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2013.03.007 · Cited by 184 · see citing works
The rise of the “innosumer”—Rethinking older technology users
Peine, A., Rollwagen, I., & Neven, L. (2013) · Technological Forecasting and Social Change · doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2013.06.013 · Cited by 174 · see citing works
Use or Non-Use of Gerontechnology—A Qualitative Study
Chen, K., & Chan, A. H. S. (2013) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph10104645 · Cited by 170 · see citing works
Wherton, J. P., Sugarhood, P., Procter, R., Hinder, S., & Greenhalgh, T. (2015) · Implementation Science · doi:10.1186/s13012-015-0271-8 · Cited by 134 · see citing works
Brereton, M. F., Soro, A., Vaisutis, K., & Roe, P. (2015) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/2702123.2702462 · Cited by 117 · see citing works
Östlund, B., Olander, E., Jönsson, O., & Frennert, S. (2014) · Technological Forecasting and Social Change · doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2014.04.012 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Šabanović, S., Chang, W.-L., Bennett, C. C., Piatt, J. A., & Hakken, D. (2015) · Lecture Notes in Computer Science · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-20892-3_11 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
Brox, E., Konstantinidis, S. T., & Evertsen, G. (2017) · JMIR Serious Games · doi:10.2196/games.6254 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
Participatory design with older adults
Davidson, J. L., & Jensen, C. (2013) · Creativity and Cognition · doi:10.1145/2466627.2466652 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Compagna, D., & Kohlbacher, F. (2015) · Technological Forecasting and Social Change · doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2014.07.012 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Rethinking the Design of Robotic Pets for Older Adults
Lazar, A., Thompson, H. J., Piper, A. M., & Demiris, G. (2016) · Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems · doi:10.1145/2901790.2901811 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Uzor, S., Baillie, L., & Skelton, D. A. (2012) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/2207676.2208568 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Greenhalgh, T., Shaw, S., Wherton, J., Hughes, G., Lynch, J., A'Court, C., Hinder, S., Fahy, N., Byrne, E., Finlayson, A., et al. (2016) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010208 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Vines, J., Blythe, M., Dunphy, P., Vlachokyriakos, V., Teece, I., Monk, A. F., & Olivier, P. L. (2012) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/2207676.2208569 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
ICT-development in residential care settings
Müller, C., Neufeldt, C., Randall, D. W., & Wulf, V. (2012) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/2207676.2208655 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Designing a social and assistive robot for seniors
Eftring, H., & Frennert, S. (2016) · Zeitschrift für Gerontologie und Geriatrie · doi:10.1007/s00391-016-1064-7 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Actively engaging older adults in the development and evaluation of tablet technology
Waycott, J., Pedell, S., Vetere, F., Ozanne, E., Kulik, L., Gruner, A., & Downs, J. (2012) · Australian Conference on Computer-Human Interaction (OzCHI) · doi:10.1145/2414536.2414633 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Advances in telecare over the past 10 years
Turner, K. J., & Lennon, M. (2013) · Smart Homecare Technology and TeleHealth · doi:10.2147/shtt.s42674 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Thilo, F. J. S., Bilger, S., Halfens, R. J. G., Schols, J. M. G. A., & Hahn, S. (2016) · Patient Preference and Adherence · doi:10.2147/ppa.s119177 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Lessons learned in deploying independent living technologies to older adults’ homes
Doyle, J., Bailey, C., Scanaill, C. N., & van den Berg, F. (2013) · Universal Access in the Information Society · doi:10.1007/s10209-013-0308-1 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Hakobyan, L., Lumsden, J., & O’Sullivan, D. M. (2015) · International Journal of Mobile Human Computer Interaction · doi:10.4018/ijmhci.2015070106 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Designing Home Care Reminder Systems: Lessons Learned Through Co-Design with Older Users
Lennon, M., Smeaton, A., & Brewster, S. A. (2012) · International Conference on Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare · doi:10.4108/icst.pervasivehealth.2012.248684 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Scandurra, I., & Sjölinder, M. (2013) · Medicine 2 0 · doi:10.2196/med20.2729 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Chancen und Herausforderungen assistiver Technik. Nutzerbedarfe und Technikakzeptanz im Alter
Künemund, H. (2015) · TATuP Zeitschrift für Technikfolgenabschätzung in Theorie und Praxis · doi:10.14512/tatup.24.2.28 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Engaging older people with participatory design
Iacono, I., & Marti, P. (2014) · doi:10.1145/2639189.2670180 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Haak, M., Slaug, B., Oswald, F., Schmidt, S., Rimland, J. M., Tomsone, S., Ladö, T., Svensson, T., & Iwarsson, S. (2015) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph120302670 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Co-designing an e-health tutorial for older adults
Xie, B., YEH, T. P., Walsh, G., Watkins, I., & Huang, M. (2012) · iConference · doi:10.1145/2132176.2132207 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Åberg, A. C., Halvorsen, K., From, I., Bruhn, Å. B., Oestreicher, L., & Melander‐Wikman, A. (2017) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph14050512 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Sheehan, B., Yen, P., Velez, O., Nobile-Hernandez, D., Tiase, V. L., & Lucero, R. J. (2014) · Applied Clinical Informatics · doi:10.4338/aci-2014-07-ra-0058 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Struggling Against Social Isolation of the Elderly—The Design of SmartTV Applications
Alaoui, M., & Lewkowicz, M. (2012) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4471-4093-1_18 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Applications of Paper and Interactive Prototypes in Designing Telecare Services for Older Adults
Duh, E. S., Guna, J., Pogačnik, M., & Sodnik, J. (2016) · Journal of Medical Systems · doi:10.1007/s10916-016-0463-z · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Discussion paper on participation and participatory methods in gerontology
Aner, K. (2016) · Zeitschrift für Gerontologie und Geriatrie · doi:10.1007/s00391-016-1098-x · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Doménech, S., Rivero, J., Planas, L. C., et al. (2013) · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Panek, P. E., Fazekas, G., Theresa, L., et al. (2017) · Studies in health technology and informatics · doi:10.3233/978-1-61499-759-7-176 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Barriers to the diffusion of telecare and telehealth in the EU: a literature review
Merkel, S., & Enste, P. (2015) · doi:10.1049/ic.2015.0128 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Self-citationTechnology, rehabilitation and empowerment of people with special needs
Pareto, L., SHARKEY, P. M., & Merrick, J. (2015) · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Partizipation und Moderne: Nutzerorientierte Technikentwicklung als missverstandene Herausforderung
Compagna, D. (2018) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-658-21054-0_10 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
LEVELS OF OLDER ADULTS’ ENGAGEMENT IN TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH, DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT: A SCOPING REVIEW
Panek, I., Crumley, E. T., Ishigami-Doyle, Y., et al. (2017) · Innovation in Aging · doi:10.1093/geroni/igx004.1423 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Babel, A., Taneja, R., Mondello Malvestiti, F., Monaco, A., & Donde, S. (2021) · Frontiers in Digital Health · doi:10.3389/fdgth.2021.669869 · Cited by 199 · see citing works
Rogers, W. A., Kadylak, T., & Bayles, M. A. (2022) · Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society · doi:10.1177/00187208211037465 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
Gasteiger, N., Ahn, H. S., Lee, C., Lim, J., MacDonald, B. A., Kim, G. H., & Broadbent, E. (2022) · ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction · doi:10.1145/3533726 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Co-design with older adults: examining and reflecting on collaboration with aging communities
Sakaguchi-Tang, D. K., Cunningham, J. L., Roldan, W., Yip, J., & Kientz, J. A. (2021) · Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1145/3479506 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Technology Used to Recognize Activities of Daily Living in Community-Dwelling Older Adults
Camp, N., Lewis, M., Hunter, K., Johnston, J., Zecca, M., Di Nuovo, A., & Magistro, D. (2020) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph18010163 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Airola, E. (2021) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/23804 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Pérez-Rodríguez, R., Villalba-Mora, E., Valdés-Aragonés, M., Ferre, X., Moral, C., Mas-Romero, M., Abizanda-Soler, P., & Rodríguez-Mañas, L. (2021) · Sensors · doi:10.3390/s21196458 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
- Authors
- Merkel, S., & Kucharski, A.
- Affiliations
- Institute for Work and Technology, Westphalian University of Applied Sciences, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
- Corresponding author
- Merkel, Sebastian
- Venue
- The Gerontologist
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2018-05-19
- Volume
- 59
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- e16-e25
- ISSN
- 0016-9013 (ISSN-L)
- 1758-5341
- OpenAlex
- W2804950403
- Cited by
- 209
- References
- 52
- Citations by year
- 2026: 24 · 2025: 34 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 32 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 38 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 4.20
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model (vor)
- Locations
- The Gerontologist (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Westphalian University
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Demography › Technology Use by Older Adults
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Innovative Human-Technology Interaction
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Assistive Technology in Communication and Mobility
- Keywords
- participatory design, gerontechnology, older adults, user involvement in innovation, co-design, prototype testing, technology acceptance, user needs analysis
- MeSH terms
- Aging, Community Participation, Equipment Design, Humans, Self-Help Devices
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
