Supporting the participation in social life of frail older adults in a one-day clinic

Kieffer, Suzanne [UCL] Swine, Christian [UCL] Macq, Benoît [UCL]

Ageing is associated with an increasing risk to acquire limitations in the daily life activities which is associated with restrictions in the participation in social life. The traditional solutions to address this issue are mainly offered by the health care system, from home care, to hospital admission and in some cases institutionalization in nursing homes. They could be supported and somehow at least in part replaced by Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Keep-In-Touch has been elaborated in this context as a touch-based assistive technology for the older adults. The development method combined user-centered design together with agile development. A six-month pilot study has been undertaken in a one-day clinic in order to efficiently support the development method and evaluate the operational feasibility of the project. First results are promising. The participants judge the system as an effective and simple intergenerational communication tool. They also expressed very positive judgments about the accessibility of the user interface. Consequently, the same approach should be adopted to enrich the system with new functionalities.