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Abstract
Although integrated home internet of things (IoT) services can be beneficial, especially for vulnerable older adults, the hurdle of usability hinders implementation of the technology. This study aimed to evaluate the practical usability of home IoT services in older adults, by frailty status, and to determine the potential obstacles. From August 2019 to July 2020, we randomly selected 20 vulnerable older adults (prefrailty group [n = 11], and frailty group [n = 9]) who had already been identified as needing home IoT services in a community-based prospective cohort study, the Aging Study of the Pyeongchang Rural Area. Integrated home IoT services were provided for 1 year, and a face-to-face survey evaluating usability and satisfaction of each service was conducted. The usability of the integrated home IoT services declined gradually throughout the study. However, prefrail participants showed higher usability than frail older adults (difference-in-difference = − 19.431, p = 0.012). According to the frailty status, the change in usability for each service type also showed a different pattern. During the 12-month study period, the service with the highest satisfaction converged from various service needs to light control by remote control (77.8%) in the prefrailty group and automatic gas circuit breaker (72.7%) in the frailty group. For wider implementation of home IoT services, organizing services expected to have high usability and satisfaction based on user’s frailty status is crucial. Also, providing education before service implementation might help older adults coping with digital literacy.
Highlights
Integrated home internet of things (IoT) services can be beneficial, especially for vulnerable older adults, the hurdle of usability hinders implementation of the technology
Given the fact that older adults living in the community are unable to fully benefit from home IoT services despite having the highest necessity, the frailty-based approach may be necessary in the field of implementation of Home IoT services
After the 12-month application of integrated home IoT services, involving five devices with eight different functions, in vulnerable older adults who were expected to have a high necessity of home IoT services, overall usability of the home IoT services was higher in prefrail older adults not in frail older adults
Summary
Integrated home internet of things (IoT) services can be beneficial, especially for vulnerable older adults, the hurdle of usability hinders implementation of the technology. Though many studies have shown favorable effects of such services and devices in community-dwelling older adults[5,6,7,8], there are still numerous hurdles, such as unawareness of the devices, complexity of systems, invasion of privacy, and low adherence, hindering wider implementation of technology-incorporated devices and services such as home internet of things (IoT)[9,10]. As a feasibility study, we observed longitudinal changes of usability and satisfaction levels of home IoT services in vulnerable older adults who would benefit most from using home IoT services by the frailty status. The primary outcome was the usability and satisfaction level of home IoT services itself in vulnerable older adults by their frailty status, and the secondary outcomes were changes in health-related benefits and care burden
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