Optimizing voice‐controlled intelligent personal assistants for use by home‐bound older adults

Abstract

Introduction Social isolation is a major public health concern, as isolated individuals are at increased risk of poor overall health, as well as at increased risk of unhealthy behaviors. During the COVID‐19 pandemic, social distancing strategies have led to increased rates of loneliness and social isolation. There is a clear need for strategies to mitigate the effects of social isolation and loneliness on the mental and physical health of older adults. In this study, we sought to better understand how voice‐controlled intelligent personal assistants (VIPAs) could be leveraged to reduce loneliness and social isolation among home‐bound older adults. Methods Patients and geriatric experts were recruited to use VIPA devices (Google Home) in their homes for 4 weeks and then provide feedback. No prior training was provided. Geriatric experts were recruited via email solicitation from the Northwestern Medicine Geriatrics Clinic, and patients were solicited directly from geriatric primary care physicians. The investigators used qualitative analysis to identify codes and overarching themes. Results A total of 288 comments were received from 16 participants. Eight major themes were identified: Administrative, Companionship, Home Control, Education, Emergencies, Entertainment, Health and Well‐Being, and Reminders. Discussion Results demonstrate that VIPAs can be useful across multiple domains and potentially play a role in providing physical, social, and cognitive stimulation to home‐bound older adults. VIPAs have a wide range of functionality, many of which could be implemented to focus on common geriatric syndromes and may ultimately be a tool to help mitigate social isolation and the consequential loneliness.

Reducing Loneliness and Social Isolation of Older Adults Through Voice Assistants: Literature Review and Bibliometric Analysis

“…In summary, the population most frequently involved in the selected studies is older adults. In some cases, informal caregivers [ 22 ], geriatric experts [ 29 ], the medical community, the general public [ 35 ], or formal caregivers working in a day-care facility with experience in caring for people with dementia [ 36 ] are also involved. All the articles detail the total number of people engaged, except for 31% (5/16) of the articles [ 26 , 31 , 32 , 34 , 35 ].…”

“…The remaining articles involve a minimum of 7 and a maximum of 109 older adults. Among the selected articles, the age of the population varies widely, including people aged >50 [ 22 , 24 , 26 , 30 ], >60 [ 23 , 33 ], >65 [ 27 , 29 ], and >75 years [ 28 ]. Naturally, professionals are younger, ranging from 21 [ 29 ] to 33 [ 36 ] years.…”

Ascertaining Whether an Intelligent Voice Assistant Can Meet Older Adults’ Health-Related Needs in the Context of a Geriatrics 5Ms Framework

“…Most of the literature on the subject of IVAs for older adults has focused on usability and acceptance (Arnold et al, 2022;Even et al, 2022;O'Brien et al, 2020O'Brien et al, , 2022Pradhan, 2020). Overall, evidence suggests that there are more benefits than challenges for older adults using IVAs including increased accessibility compared to other computing devices, and increased sense of companionship.…”

“…IVAs may offer a way to address older adults' health care needs as outlined in the 5Ms framework. Though there is a growing literature on the subject of IVAs and older adults (Arnold et al, 2022;Even et al, 2022;Jakob, 2022), there is a more limited literature on designing and utilizing IVAs from an older adult healthrelated needs perspective, and none of these studies have utilized the comprehensive 5Ms framework (Arnold et al, 2022;Chen, Mrini et al, 2021;Jesús-Azabal et al, 2020;Nallam et al, 2020;O'Brien et al, 2020O'Brien et al, , 2022Pradhan et al, 2018;Ruggiano et al, 2021;Shade et al, 2020).…”

“…Because they do not require visual or tactile interaction, they offer options for accessibility beyond computers and touchscreen devices that may be particularly useful for people with sensory, physical, and cognitive impairments that are common among aging populations (Nallam et al, 2020;Pradhan et al, 2018). Because of the prevalence of IVAs in use and their promise for use among older adults (Stigall et al, 2019), as well as increased isolation and reduced access to health care, which has been pronounced among older adults since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (Bastani et al, 2021), academia and industry are increasingly examining how IVAs are being used and their potential among older adults, including for health-related needs (Arnold et al, 2022;Chen, Johnson et al, 2021;O'Brien et al, 2020O'Brien et al, , 2022Pradhan et al, 2020;Trajkova & Martin-Hammond, 2020).…”