10th EAI International Conference on Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare

Research Article

Successful Aging for Low-Income Older Adults: Towards Design Principles

  • @INPROCEEDINGS{10.4108/eai.16-5-2016.2263347,
        author={Beenish Chaudhry and Kimberly Green-Reeves and Nitesh Chawla},
        title={Successful Aging for Low-Income Older Adults: Towards Design Principles},
        proceedings={10th EAI International Conference on Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare},
        publisher={ACM},
        proceedings_a={PERVASIVEHEALTH},
        year={2016},
        month={6},
        keywords={older adults; successful aging; design; low-income; independent living; technology; health},
        doi={10.4108/eai.16-5-2016.2263347}
    }
    
  • Beenish Chaudhry
    Kimberly Green-Reeves
    Nitesh Chawla
    Year: 2016
    Successful Aging for Low-Income Older Adults: Towards Design Principles
    PERVASIVEHEALTH
    EAI
    DOI: 10.4108/eai.16-5-2016.2263347
Beenish Chaudhry1,*, Kimberly Green-Reeves2, Nitesh Chawla1
  • 1: University of Notre Dame
  • 2: Beacon Health System
*Contact email: bchaudhr@nd.edu

Abstract

Low-income older adults are at risk of poor health outcomes due to rising healthcare costs. When designed to reflect their needs, technologies can provide a cost-effective solution to this problem. We investigated the issues and strategies low-income people encounter in managing their health by conducting interviews and focus groups with fifty older adults. The qualitative analysis revealed nine themes participants considered important for successful aging. Based on these findings, we propose two design principles to promote successful aging in the target population: (a) support shift-and-persist strategies; and (b) combat impoverished mentalities by providing knowledge, resources and motivation.