Using a Smart Speaker for Promoting Health, Wellness, and Independence: An Immersive Workshop for Older Adults
Presentation
Overview
Overview
Description
Title: Using a Smart Speaker for Promoting Health, Wellness, and Independence: An Immersive Workshop for Older Adults Overview: Many older adults with chronic conditions are aging in the community in Wilmington, North Carolina. Voice-activated smart speakers can serve as digital health assistants to support health, wellness, and independence among older adults living in the community. However, older adults may not be familiar with the full range of smart speaker features for promoting health, wellness, and independence.
Methods: A 75-minute in-person workshop was conducted at the New Hanover County Senior Resource Center in Wilmington, with live broadcast via Zoom webinar. We used an experiential learning approach, with guided training, live demonstrations, active interactions, and hands-on practice using prompts/ commands for using the Amazon Echo Dot Alexa speaker. A post-workshop survey was conducted to assess participants’ perceptions of key takeaways, qualitative and quantitative feedback on the effectiveness of the workshop (using a 5-point Likert Scale, ranging from “extremely effective, 5” to “not effective, 1”), and their willingness to use a smart speaker (using a 7-point Likert Scale, ranging from “strongly agree, 7” to “strongly disagree, 1”).
Results: Ten participants (age: 62-80 years) attended the on-site workshop, and 8 participants completed the post-workshop survey. Regarding prior experience with digital technology, half of the participants (4/8) reported using a smartphone; only 2 reported prior experience with a smart speaker; and 3 reported not using any digital technology. In preassessment, participants reported using a smart speaker to listen to music. Participants reported key takeaways as learning 1) multiple uses of a smart speaker, 2) ease of its use, 3) use of a smart speaker for health and wellness, and 4) retrieving general and health information using a smart speaker. Participants appraised the clarity and simplicity of the example prompts and the level of interactive engagement. In terms of willingness to use, participants showed high intention to use, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and intention to adopt a smart speaker (all mean scores > 6).
Conclusion: Older adults benefit from an experiential learning workshop. Prospective studies are needed to examine the impact of educational workshops on self-efficacy in using a smart speaker to promote health, wellness, and independence in daily life.
