Exploring Potential of Voice Assistants to Support Wellbeing in Later Life
(SOARWell-AiP: Sociotechnical observation and assessment research into wellbeing and aging in place)
The SOARWell project is exploring how voice assistants (e.g., Google Assistant or Amazon’s Alexa) may enhance the wellbeing and independence of older adults and help them to age in place.These technologies can enhance engagement in leisure (e.g. music, games), daily activities and tasks (e.g. setting reminders, searching the internet for information), and social participation.
Although many older adults are already trying out these technologies, they often limit or abandon use of these technologies over time.
Little research to date has explored why this is the case and whether and how this is related to coadaptation between older adults and these technologies.
Coadaptation may occur when older adults’ behaviors or actions progress beyond initial familiarity towards more consistent use and they experience automated and algorithm-driven adjustment of voice assistant to their behaviors and preferences over an extended period.
Understanding older adults’ experiences and impact of coadaptation is needed to inform strategies and tools to enhance their meaningful use of these technologies to support wellbeing and aging in place.
Our Research Objectives
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To examine how older adults co-adapt with voice assistants over time and how this affects their well-being, aging in place, and related influencing factors.
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To Analyze changes in older adults’ use of voice assistants over time, the impact that coadaptation has on their use and well-being, and other factors that influence use behaviours and intentions.
03
To co-design, with older adults, an information tool and recommendations that promote sustained use of voice assistants for well-being, support aging in place, and address their unique needs and preferences.
The three objectives will be achieved via three interconnected phases
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Use interviews and surveys to explore with a group of older adults their experiences and impacts of learning to use a voice assistant on a commercially available smart speaker over 6 months.
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Conduct a large-scale survey to understand the use and impacts of different types of voice assistants on older adults and process of coadaptation over time.
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Co-design with older adults resources to enhance use of voice assistant to support wellbeing and aging in place and develop recommendations for customizing and improving these technologies.
Want to join our Research Study?
If participating in this study interests you, follow the link below to take our screening survey.
Research Overview
A brief overview of the research we conducted is available for downlaod
If you want to download this poster click below to download it.
The viewing window to the left also has zoom options.
Published Resources
Kokorelias KM, Grigorovich A, Harris MT, Rehman U, Ritchie L, Levy AM, Denecke K, McMurray J. Longitudinal Coadaptation of Older Adults With Wearables and Voice-Activated Virtual Assistants: Scoping Review. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2024 Aug 7;26:e57258.
Kokorelias KM, Grigorovich A, Harris MT, Rehman U, Ritchie L, Levy A, Denecke K, McMurray J. Coadaptation between smart technologies and older adults over time: protocol for a scoping review. JMIR Research Protocols. 2023 Oct 9;12(1):e51129.
Meet the Team
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Dr. Alisa Grigorovich
Principal Investigator Brock University
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Dr. Josephine McMurray
Co–Principal Investigator Wilfrid Laurier University
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Dr. Maurita Harris
Co-Investigator. Wilfrid Laurier University
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Dr. Kristina Kokorelias
Co-Investigator National Institute on Ageing
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Dr. Umair Rehman
Co-Investigator Western University
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Dr. AnneMarie Levy
Project Coordinator Wilfrid Laurier University
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Madison Badger
Research Assistant Brock University
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Mya George
Research Assistant Brock University
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Dr. Kelsey Harvey
Collaborator Cape Breton University
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Dr. Olive Bryanton
Collaborator University of Prince Edward Island
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Dr. Barbara Marshall
Collaborator Trent University
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Dr. Kim Parker
Collaborator Nova Scotia Rehabilitation & Arthritis Centre
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Dr. Kirsten Denecke
Collaborator Bern University of Applied Health Sciences
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Dr. Samir Sinha
Collaborator National Institute on Ageing
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Dr. Bryan Smale
Collaborator University of Waterloo
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Ron Beleno
Collaborator
AGE-WELL NCE