The government of Canada is moving to federally fund research from Ontario-based Brock University, which will seek to better understand how smart-home technology impacts the prospects for older people wanting to age in place in their homes.
Technology companies, entrepreneurs and governments alike have been showing additional signs of interest in smart-home technology and the potential relief it could provide for seniors looking to remain in their homes. This comes in light of data indicating that older people are either unable or unwilling to sell their homes.
“The Brock University Assistant Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies will be able to pursue this line of research thanks to an Insight Grant from the federal government’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC),” according to an announcement by the university. “[Alisa] Grigorovich is among five Brock University researchers recently awarded a SSHRC Insight Grant or Insight Development Grant. In total, Brock researchers received $634,753.”
Marie-Claude Bibeau, the nation’s minister of national revenue, announced the funding last week. The university detailed some of what the research will aim to ascertain.
“In the early stages of her project, Grigorovich and her team aim to understand how older adults interact with, and adapt to, using a smart speaker with a built-in voice-activated Google Assistant,” the announcement stated. “They will also explore how this technology adjusts to user behaviors and preferences in real time.”
The researchers will assess “if and how this dynamic process of ‘co-adaptation’ contributes to enhancing the capabilities of older adults’ to ‘successfully age in place,’” Grigorovich explained. The work will also determine the impact such technology has on a senior’s well-being over a longer period and whether or not their overall quality of life has increased.
This will lead to a final work phase that will “co-design ways of promoting the use of voice-activated virtual assistants with older adults to help those living at home have a higher quality of life,” according to Grigorovich.
Smart-home technology — which often allows access to a voice-activated “assistant” that can set reminders or perform other routine tasks — has become a burgeoning tool to better help older adults remain in their homes and live more independently.
Researchers at the University of California at Davis are spearheading a project by assisting in the creation of a technology platform. The project is designed to more easily connect older adults with family members and caregivers to better support aging-in-place goals.
The technology’s aging-in-place applications have also attracted investment by governments at multiple levels. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has explored the smart-home technology sector to provide support to military veterans who want to age in place. It aims to balance independent living capabilities with control over personal data.
In 2022, New York’s State Office for the Aging announced a program to deploy smart-home technology to combat feelings of senior isolation. One year later, an assessment of that program found that it helped lead to a 95% reduction in feelings of loneliness for participants, along with high levels of user engagement.
According to survey results published earlier this year by U.S. News & World Report, 93% of Americans ages 55 and older view aging in place as an “important goal,” with 49% attributing aging as a reason they would choose to bring assistive technologies into their homes.