Everyday Technology Use Research Articles

Effectiveness of Everyday Technology Use in Upper-Extremity Stroke Rehabilitation

Abstract Date Presented 04/06/19 A literature review was completed to examine the efficacy of everyday technology as a treatment modality to improve upper-extremity motor control and motivation for people recovering from stroke. The evidence was promising in support of the use of everyday technology with this population, as indicated by client and clinician reports of satisfaction, motivation, and engagement in poststroke rehabilitation, as well as increased upper-extremity motor control. Primary Author and Speaker: Tatiana Kaminsky Contributing Authors: Dillon Oldham, Claire Ferree, Amanda Robert, Alana Yee, George Tomlin

Disability Risk and Everyday Technology Use Among Older Adults in an Urban Area

Abstract Date Presented 04/05/19 Primary Author and Speaker: Ryan Walsh Additional Authors and Speakers: Jenica Lee, Caniece Leggett, Ruxandra Drasga Contributing Authors: Holly Shapnick, Anders Kottorp

Everyday technologies and public space participation among people with and without dementia.

Occupational therapists support everyday technology use; however, it is necessary to consider the challenges that people with dementia encounter with everyday technologies when participating in various places within public space. The purpose of the study was to explore stability and change in participation in places visited within public space in relation to the relevance of everyday technologies used within public space. People with dementia (n = 35) and people with no known cognitive impairment (n = 34) were interviewed using the Participation in Activities and Places Outside Home Questionnaire and the Everyday Technology Use Questionnaire. Data analysis used modern and classical test theory. Both samples participated in places within public space; however, participation and relevance of everyday technologies were significantly lower for the dementia group. To enable participation, occupational therapists need to be aware of challenges that technologies and places within public space present to people with dementia.

Do you observe what I perceive? The relationship between two perspectives on the ability of people with cognitive impairments to use everyday technology

Objectives: Everyday technologies (ETs) can be challenging to use, particularly for older adults with cognitive impairments. This study evaluated the relationship between the self-perceived ability to use ET and observable performance of self-chosen and familiar, but challenging ETs in people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia.Method: A self-perceived report, the Everyday Technology Use Questionnaire (S-ETUQ), and a structured observational tool, the Management of Everyday Technology Assessment (META), assessing the perceived and observed ability to use ET, were used in 41 people with MCI and 38 people with dementia. Correlations were investigated with non-parametric statistical tests.Results: In the dementia group, self-perceived report and observational scores correlated on a significant medium level (Rs=0.44, p = 0.006). In the MCI group, no significant correlation was found.Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest the ability of older adults with cognitive impairments to use ETs can be depicted with self-perceived reports as well as with observations. However, the combination of both approaches is recommended to get a comprehensive picture. While the S-ETUQ provides a broad picture of the use, presence and relevance of technologies in an individual’s life, the META describes a specific human-technology interaction in detail. Furthermore, the results suggest people with early dementia retain the ability and insight to accurately reflect on their own ability to use ET, emphasizing the need to include their experiences in research and clinical work.

Difficulties in Everyday Technology Use of the People with Acquired Brain Injury Living at Home

Difficulties in Everyday Technology Use of the People with Acquired Brain Injury Living at Home

Can the Everyday Technology Use Questionnaire Predict Overall Functional Level Among Older Adults in Urban Contexts?

Abstract Date Presented 4/20/2018 The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the Everyday Technology Use Questionnaire’s ability to predict overall functional level among older adults in urban contexts. The findings indicate that practitioners may use this assessment to predict overall functional level. Primary Author and Speaker: Ryan Walsh Contributing Authors: Ruxandra Drasga, Jenica Lee, Caniece Leggett, Holly Shapnick, Anders Kottorp

The Role of Everyday Technology and Engagement in Activities in Perceived Health Among Older People in Urban Communities

Abstract Date Presented 4/19/2018 This study of older people with and without functional limitations in an urban environment targeted everyday technology access and use, activity engagement, cognition, and perceived health. Primary Author and Speaker: Anders Kottorp Additional Authors and Speakers: Jenica Lee, Ryan J. Walsh Contributing Authors: Ruxandra Drasga, Caniece Leggett, Holly Schapnik

Critical incidents in everyday technology use: exploring digital breakdowns

This paper presents the analysis of 292 personal stories of digital media breakdown in everyday life. The analysis identifies significant occurrences (events, incidents, processes or issues) as identified by informants themselves; the way these occurrences are pragmatically negotiated; and the perceived outcomes in terms of cognitive, affective and behavioural effects. Against a backdrop of techno-optimism, techno-pessimism and technology as experience, the paper proposes four analytical dimensions, or tensions, common in digital media failures: the digital and the material; trust and lack of control; planned obsolescence and desirable updates; and nostalgia and reluctance to go back. While these dimensions indicate a highly ambiguous relation to digital media with the informants, the most striking observation is how the practical solution to these uncertainties is to irrevocably ‘accept and commit’ to being and becoming even more digital. That is, in the face of (a risk of) digital breakdown, individuals argue that more and upgraded digital media is always the best and undisputable response. In the light of these results, some design possibilities are suggested, including designing for nostalgia, designing for comprehensibility and designing for failing infrastructure resilience.

How college students diagnosed with anxiety disorders and/or depression use everyday technology

Anxiety disorders and/or depression are the most frequently diagnosed mental health problems (MHP) among American college students. Everyday technology (EDT) is being used with those who have MHP to help them cope with the mental/cognitive disabilities arising from having anxiety and/or depression. Deveau investigated the types of EDT students with MHP use to manage their roles as college students. While this research indicated that individuals with MHP were open to learning about EDT they can use, the author recommended further investigation of the topic. This qualitative study further investigated what types of EDT college students use to manage their anxiety disorder and/or depression. Our research found that while college students with anxiety and depression are familiar with and willing to use EDT to help compensate for some of the issues they have resulting from their anxiety and depression, some reported that the use of EDT contributes to their problems. Implications for further investigation include continuing to examine the use of EDT amongst a larger group of college students. Future research should also investigate creating a peer run technology group, taught by interested student such as occupational therapy, psychology or computer science students to name a few, to inform students about apps to manage scheduling, routines, medication management and symptoms management. Additionally, the positive and negative aspects of social media and how to manage ones use of it use would be a relevant topic for group discussion.Implications for rehabilitationWhile most college students currently use everyday technology as a part of their lives, it has positive and negative meanings to college students who have anxiety and/or depression.Finding out what a user wants to do with technology and the meaning it has for them is a critical part of insuring the right match between a person and an assistive technology intervention.Consider a full range of no to high technology options when working with college students who experience the mental/cognitive disabilities resulting from mental health problems to identify assistive technology solutions.

Validation of a Tool Measuring Everyday Technology use Among Older Adults in Three Countries

To investigate the validity and reliability of the Everyday Technology Use Questionnaire (ETUQ) among older adults with and without functional limitations in urban contexts from the United States, Denmark, and Sweden. Internationally, use of everyday technologies enables older adults to manage everyday activities in new ways, for participation in today's healthcare and community activities demand greater use of everyday technologies such as smartphones, eHealth applications, and automated services. To evaluate the role of everyday technology use, valid measures of technology use are crucial.

Agency and governance: Pokémon-Go and contested fun in public space

Geographic research about digital technologies sometimes frames software as a locus of social, economic, and political agency that successfully mediates a range of corporate, governmental, and institutional practices. But some digital technologies lack support from authoritative actors. How and why might some effects of software be modulated, challenged, or subverted, even if programmers’ and other stakeholders’ intentions are not malicious? This essay argues that a nuanced geographic understanding of software should encompass varieties of actors, regimes, interactions, and experiences that can limit and complicate use of everyday technologies in space and time, fortifying some digital assemblages but not others. Using content from Reddit.com, I conducted an observational discourse analysis of the popular Augmented Reality (AR) game Pokémon-Go. Reddit users reflected on occasional moments when the game conflicted with governmental, institutional, cultural, and/or locational realities and decisions that revealed the contested and fragile nature of some software-mediated practices. Three thematic areas generated considerable audience reception and engagement, which I have termed “location,” “governance,” and “encounter.” They structure the analysis that follows, along with connections to AR research in engineering sub-disciplines. It may be useful for geographers to pay greater empirical attention to everyday moments when socio-spatial practices, regulatory logics (both formal and informal), and sub-cultural tensions limit what some digital technologies and their users can do in public space.

Everyday technology use for men with multiple sclerosis: An occupational perspective

Introduction Everyday technology has the potential to increase quality of life for individuals with disabilities. In a society that relies on technology for participation, exploring everyday technology use is a fundamental part of understanding lived experiences of occupation. The meaning and roles individuals with disabilities ascribe to technology may be influenced by sociocultural considerations, such as gender. This interpretive phenomenological study aimed to present an occupational perspective of everyday technology use for men with multiple sclerosis. Method Three middle-aged men (50–57 years old) with multiple sclerosis participated in an individual semi-structured interview. Data were analysed using a hermeneutic approach of close reading. After the initial analysis, superordinate themes were examined relative to an occupational framework. Findings The identified themes were ‘searching online as means and end’ (doing); ‘connecting to others and society’ (belonging); and ‘seeing present and future self’ (being and becoming). Conclusion The meaning of occupational experiences of everyday technology for men with multiple sclerosis are influenced by master narratives of masculinity. Since everyday technology is intertwined with multiple dimensions of occupation, facilitating its use may promote health and quality of life.

Activity Engagement and Everyday Technology Use Among Older Adults in an Urban Area

We investigated associations among activity engagement (AE), number of available and relevant everyday technologies, ability to use everyday technologies, and cognitive status among older adults in an urban area. This cross-sectional study included 110 participants and used three assessments: the Frenchay Activities Index to measure AE, the Everyday Technology Use Questionnaire to measure the number of and ability to use available and relevant everyday technologies, and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment to measure cognitive status. Data analyses used a one-way analysis of variance and a multiple linear regression model. The number of available and relevant everyday technologies was significantly different (p < .001) among groups that varied in level of AE. Ability to use everyday technologies did not significantly differ among groups. Cognitive status did not explain level of AE when the number of available and relevant everyday technologies was considered. Increasing the accessibility of available and relevant everyday technologies among older adults in an urban area may increase AE.

The stressors in the use of everyday technologies from the perspective of the elderly user: A comparative study of UK and Brazil

The stressors in the use of everyday technologies from the perspective of the elderly user: A comparative study of UK and Brazil

Everyday technology use among older deaf adults

Purpose: Technology holds great potential to support Deaf individuals as they age into older adulthood. However, it is unclear to what extent Deaf seniors are using technology in everyday life or whether they experience challenges in using technology. The current study explored technology use among older Deaf adults with regard to attitudes, adoption style, and frequency of use for a wide range of technologies, including assistive technologies (ATs) for persons with hearing loss and general, everyday technologies.Materials and methods: We developed a questionnaire that assessed older Deaf adults’ use of and experiences with technology. The questionnaire was made available in online and paper versions. Participants (N = 109) were recruited from national conferences and organizations for the Deaf.Results: Overall, we found that the older Deaf adults were technology adopters and regularly use and feel comfortable with a variety of devices. However, we also identified a number of technologies that are not being used by this population, including an AT that appears to have become obsolete and technologies that use sound-based alerts.Conclusions: Insights on how older Deaf adults are embracing technology and which devices they are actually using can help policy makers, technology developers, and a range of aging services professionals, better meet the needs of this understudied population.Implications for Rehabilitation:Older Deaf adults use a variety of assistive and everyday technologies and must be considered as consumers and included in the design process.Older Deaf adults are generally positive in their attitudes towards technologies but they are infrequent users of potentially beneficial health technologies, highlighting opportunities for future research and development.Assistive technology for the Deaf (TTY/TTD) appears to have become obsolete with advances in modern communication technologies, which has implications for policy decisions.

Inclusive sensory ethnography: Studying new media and neurodiversity in everyday life

Media and communication studies has recently begun to ethnographically explore the sensory dimensions of how individuals experience and perceive technology. This turn toward the sensorial has centered primarily on the five “external” senses (sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste) and less so on “internal” vestibular and proprioceptive systems that concern bodily spatial positioning. I propose inclusive sensory ethnography to account for greater neurodiversity in how humans process sensory input, as well as a fuller range of multi-sensory encounters with new media. I ground this conceptualization in a qualitative study of young children on the autism spectrum with difficulties processing sensory information and their social engagements with print, screen, and interactive media. Inclusive sensory ethnography reveals novel understandings of how the internal senses shape and are shaped by mediated relationships, practices, and intimacies. I discuss further implications for how disability and inclusive sensory ethnography can enrich the study of everyday technology use.

Inter-rater and test-retest reliability of the Danish version of the everyday technology use questionnaire

Background: Everyday technologies are naturally integrated in people’s daily life. For older adults and adults living with a chronic disease like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the ability to use technologies for health management has become increasingly important. The aim of this study was to investigate inter-rater and test-retest reliability of the Danish version of the Everyday Technology Use Questionnaire (ETUQ) in a sample of older adults with (n = 23) and without (n = 24) COPD.Material and method: The ETUQ was initially translated in accordance with the dual panel approach and then administered to a sample of 47 participants. Svensson’s method for paired ordinal data was utilized to calculate and analyze reliability.Results: Overall, inter-rater and test-retest reliability of the Danish version of the ETUQ demonstrated excellent percentage agreement (PA) (>75%), although for test-retest reliability, nine items demonstrated fair (53%) to good (73%) agreement.Conclusion: This study supports the use of the Danish version of the ETUQ in a sample of older adults with or without COPD.Application to practice: The Danish version of the ETUQ is an evidence-based evaluation that can reliably contribute to clinical occupational therapy and research in Denmark focusing on everyday technology use.

Everyday Technology Use Related to Activity Involvement Among People in Cognitive Decline.

We investigated how everyday technology use related to activity involvement over 5 yr in people with mild cognitive impairment. Thirty-seven older adults with mild cognitive impairment were evaluated regarding everyday technology use and involvement in activities over time. Information on diagnostic changes was collected from medical files. Linear mixed-effects models were used in data analysis. Ability to use everyday technology showed a significant effect on activity involvement (p = .007) beyond the effects of time, diagnostic change, and age. Decreases in number of everyday technologies used (p < .001) and share of accessible and relevant everyday technologies used (p = .04) were associated with decreasing activity involvement. However, these two aspects did not reinforce each other. When monitoring activity involvement in clients with cognitive decline, health care professionals should take into account clients' ability to use everyday technologies and the amount of everyday technologies they use.

DOES BRAIN AMYLOID DEPOSITION IMPACT EVERYDAY FUNCTIONING IN SUBJECTS WITH COGNITIVE COMPLAINTS? RESULTS FROM THE INSIGHT COHORT

Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is increasingly identified as a potential at-risk stage for Alzheimer's disease (AD). A key issue in SCD is to identify the earliest clinical symptoms indicative of preclincal AD, when these subjects are considered to be predominantly asymptomatic. Experiencing difficulties with performing instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) is potentially such an early symptom. Because amyloid is one of the earliest pathological changes in AD, the objective of the current study is to investigate the relationship between amyloid deposition and IADL in SCD. Subjects were included from the prospective INSIGHT pre-AD cohort, which is conducted at the University Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France. We used baseline cross-sectional data, and included subjects with SCD who had amyloid Florbetapir PET and IADL assessments available. β-Amyloid deposition was measured by the standard uptake value ratio (SUVr) in cortical regions; frontal, temporal, parietal, anterior cingulate, posterior cingulate and precuneus, using whole cerebellum and pons as reference regions. Subjects' partners completed the French version of the Amsterdam IADL Questionnaire. IADL and SUVr data data were log transformed to obtain normal distributions. The relationship between amyloid (global and local effects) and IADL was investigated using linear regression analyses, with correction for age, sex and education if necessary. A total of 304 participants were included (Mean age=76, SD=3.45, 64% female). Global amyloid SUVr was related to IADL scores (β=.246, 95% CI .052 -.441, p=.013), which remained significant after correction for confounding. When looking at amyloid deposition in specific brain regions, IADL was associated with SUVr in frontal, parietal and temporal regions. Subsequently, a total of 82 (27%) participants was defined by cut-off as amyloid positive, and we found a trend for amyloid positive subjects to have more IADL difficulties (β=.090, 95% CI -.001-.181, p=.053). Specific activities that differed between both groups were primarily related to everyday technology use. Our findings suggest that in subjects with SCD a greater amyloid burden impacts IADL functioning. This indicates that IADL is an early clinical symptom, and potentially a useful clinical marker of preclinical AD. As a next step, we aim to study longitudinal trajectories of IADL functioning.

Changes in Everyday and Digital Health Technology Use Among Seniors in Declining Health.

U.S. seniors' digital health and everyday technology use when their health declines are unknown. Longitudinal cohort using the National Health and Aging Trends Study, a nationally representative, annually administered sample of community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries (n = 4,037). We used difference-in-differences to assess the adjusted difference (AD) in technology use from 2011 to 2014 between those with and without health declines. Health decline measures included new-onset dementia; new-onset depression; decreases in activities of daily living (ADLs), short physical performance battery (SPPB), grip strength, and self-reported health; relocation to nursing facility; increased hospitalizations; and new-onset comorbidity. Digital health included use of the Internet to research health conditions, contact clinicians, fill prescriptions, and address insurance matters. Between 2011 and 2014, seniors experiencing health decline used various digital health technologies at low absolute rates (range: 1%-20%). Between 2011 and 2014, use of everyday technology decreased significantly among seniors with new-onset dementia (from 73% to 51%; AD, -26%), decreased ADLs (from 76% to 67%; AD, -10%), decreased SPPB (from 88% to 86%; AD, -3%), and relocation to a nursing facility (from 49% to 22%; AD, -31%) compared to seniors without comparable decline (all p < .05). Use of digital health decreased significantly among seniors with new-onset probable dementia (from 9% to 4%; AD, -6%) and decreased SPPB (from 24% to 25%; AD, -4%; all p < .05). The type of health decline a senior experiences predicts technology use, which may allow better targeting of digital health to specific seniors. Seniors with new dementia, relocation to a nursing home, and declining physical performance seem especially poor candidates for technology interventions.