We conducted a feasibility study with three main objectives: 1) Assessing the willingness of older adult residents in a senior living community to wear a smartwatch for more than 23 hours daily; 2) Evaluating whether the existing staff can adequately support the participants by monitoring for skin reactions, and managing the daily removal, recharging, and reapplication of the watches; and 3) Gauging participants’ response to the use of smartwatches for assessing factors related to health and mobility.
The study was conducted in a cohort of older adults dwelling residing in a senior living center in the Southeastern United States. Data included 26 week-long smartwatch use periods from May to December 2023 involving 20 participants - 6 (30%) of whom participated more than once. There was no attrition. Out of 26 weeks of data collection periods, 12 surveys (46%) were returned with responses to the following open-ended questions 1) Did you like wearing the watch; and 2) Would you be willing to wear the watch longer?
Findings showed that four (33%) participants liked wearing the watch “very much”; 2 (17%) responded “somewhat”, 3 (25%) were “neutral”, 1 (8%) responded “not much”, and 2 (17%) stated “not at all”. Five (42%) stated they would likely wear the watch longer (“very much”) while 1 (8%) responded “somewhat”, and 6 (50%) were “neutral”. Notably, 33% shared concerns regarding the watches’ size, color, and/or time accuracy.
This mixed-methods feasibility study elucidated the participants' willingness, the staff's support capability, and overall adherence and compliances within the senior living facility.
The findings indicate the feasibility of using smartwatches with older adults for collecting data associated with mobility and falls. Therefore, we will implement our intended study to identify risk factors and potential falls predictors using smartwatches with this population.
Smartwatch
Feasibility
