Summary
Background: The ‘Confidence’ smartphone application aims to support elderly people’s independence
as long as possible.
Objective: This paper presents first findings on the impact of the system on elderlies’ lives.
Methods: 41 end-users tested ‘Confidence’ for six weeks in their daily routine. Before and
after the test period the participants assessed their quality of life (QoL). These
assessments were analyzed together with additional QoL statements and the usage of
‘Confidence’ which were collected with questionnaires.
Results: Six participants assessed their QoL after the trial better than before and six participants
assessed it as worse. Five individuals felt that ‘Confidence’ positively influenced
their life and these five testers had a positive attitude towards ‘Confidence’ from
the start of the trial. After the trial 38 % of the participants said that they felt
safer, 37 % communicated more with others, 27 % forgot less, 13 % felt better oriented
outside, and 7 % were more on the move due to ‘Confidence’. Three percent said that
they were less on the move, two percent felt more unsafe and two percent were less
outside.
Conclusion: ‘Confidence’ has the potential to affect elderly users’ lives. However, within this
analysis positive or negative effects of its usage were not correlated with the QoL
assessment. A connection between positive attitude towards technology prior use and
a positive impact afterwards was found.
Citation: Willner V, Schneider C, Feichtenschlager M. Effects of an assistance service on the
quality of life of elderly users. Appl Clin Inform 2015; 6: 429–442
http://dx.doi.org/10.4338/ACI-2015-03-RA-0033
Keywords
Aging - assistive technology - quality of life - smartphone
