IValerie Jones spoke to us about “The Loneliness Epidemic – Using Alexa to Improve Aging Adults Quality of Life”. Question ?? “Does technology make our life better?” We are talking about using Alexa to help make our life better. Many of these technologies do influence our life. If you talk to Alexa, she will talk back to you and give you your answer. You can ask Alexa what the weather is going to be today and she in return will tell you if it is going to be sunny, cloudy, rainy, or maybe very cold. Loneliness is a very big issue and this not because of COVID-19 when we had to more or less just not go out as we usually did, but many of our older adults live alone and do get lonely.
Valerie does work in advertising and branding and yes media does influence loneliness. Did you know that in 20260 the average American will be 65+ in age. Interaction Communication Technology (ICT) can help loneliness and help create social connection. So far, the in six studies they have found the following:
Alexa can influence the day-to-day lives of many aging adults. It depends on how much those adults use Alexa. Alexa has been used in treating anthropomorphic conditions. They have found that it has helped in loneliness reduction. Alexa provides conveniences to many an adult and they can ask it practically anything. It will play music, answer questions about weather, make phone calls automatically for you (the phone numbers must be programmed into Alexa) and help you locate different stores, etc. It brings a sense of championship and security to many aging adults. Alexa is one that bring immediacy, and accessibility, as well as, nostalgia to an adult.
The studies where were they asked adults to do five things for 4 weeks. There was a long list of things that they could choose from for Alexa to do. There was a survey before and after the study that the adults filled out. One thing with Alexa you must ask direct questions.
Some of the things that will be coming up in these studies are: Tailoring, modality, loneliness and pain, personality, social connectedness, and co-created guides. They will be looking at the different types of people because no one is same in their personality and make-up. They will be playing games and have more interaction with Alexa. They will be looking at how you use Alexa. After getting input in how people use Alexa, why they use it, and how it connects them to other people, the community and the world a guide will be created to help those who might need to use Alexa to connect and not be lonely.
Valerie shared with us two stories from the studies and how Alexa helped these people. In January, Valerie, has a Fullbright to use to go to Australia and work with people there until May of 2023 on how Alexa helps people in that country compared to the U.S
There are challenges to these studies and they are: Health equity, marginalized groups, proactive health, F2F and digital social connections and improve quality of life. These are some of the things she would like to find out how Alexa helps.