Page 181 - Petelin, Ana, ur. 2021. Zdravje starostnikov / Health of the Elderly. Zbornik povzetkov z recenzijo / Book of Abstracts. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem/University of Primorska Press
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parison of applications used to help the elderly posterji | poster presentations
Lara Šinkovec, Liza Privošnik, Maša Sedej Knezović, Andrej Starc
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic has radically changed the existing infra-
structure of medical practice, as clinics and hospitals around the world have fo-
cused on virtual resources to help care for patients. Technology has become
critical to our wellbeing. Specifically, the technology for older adults is ad-
dressed for content that the elderly have the most needs in. The aim of this lit-
erature review is to present a comparison of applications designed to help old-
er adults in their basic life activities.
Methods. A quantitative descriptive research method with critical review of
English scientific and professional literature was performed using the follow-
ing databases DiKul, PubMed, Researchgate and SienceDirect. The literature
search took place from March 2021 to April 2021. Literature inclusion criteria
were articles published between 2016 and 2021, open and free access and ar-
ticles with clearly defined objectives and methods in English language. The ex-
clusion criteria were articles published before 2016, articles with paid access
and articles that were not in English language. We reviewed 51 articles and ex-
cluded 35 articles that did not match our criteria. We included 16 articles. Da-
ta was analyzed using a content analysis method.
Results. The results showed that there are a few different apps for different
conditions in the market. All of them are designed to make life easier for el-
derly. There is evidence that apps are helping elderly population as much as
they help health workers. The benefits of reviewed apps are to help reduce
rates of forgetting and of medication errors, and also increases perceived in-
dependence in managing medication. However, currently available applications
for smart mobile terminals used by the aged, which serve as the important
carrier of various internet services for elderly people, have obvious defects in
quantity, service range, and charm. Results show that in any app that we includ-
ed in this review there is room for improvement.
Discussion and Conclusions. It is important to bridge the gap between the elder-
ly people and modern technologies, which is achieved through more products
designed based on emotional care and construction, and by providing an ap-
propriate training program for the elderly population to use a smartphone. In
the future, research should focus on testing mobile health interventions in pa-
tients at risk for poor adherence and on standardizing alerts and protocols for
clinicians.
Keywords: elderly, technology, mobile app, ICT
179
Lara Šinkovec, Liza Privošnik, Maša Sedej Knezović, Andrej Starc
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic has radically changed the existing infra-
structure of medical practice, as clinics and hospitals around the world have fo-
cused on virtual resources to help care for patients. Technology has become
critical to our wellbeing. Specifically, the technology for older adults is ad-
dressed for content that the elderly have the most needs in. The aim of this lit-
erature review is to present a comparison of applications designed to help old-
er adults in their basic life activities.
Methods. A quantitative descriptive research method with critical review of
English scientific and professional literature was performed using the follow-
ing databases DiKul, PubMed, Researchgate and SienceDirect. The literature
search took place from March 2021 to April 2021. Literature inclusion criteria
were articles published between 2016 and 2021, open and free access and ar-
ticles with clearly defined objectives and methods in English language. The ex-
clusion criteria were articles published before 2016, articles with paid access
and articles that were not in English language. We reviewed 51 articles and ex-
cluded 35 articles that did not match our criteria. We included 16 articles. Da-
ta was analyzed using a content analysis method.
Results. The results showed that there are a few different apps for different
conditions in the market. All of them are designed to make life easier for el-
derly. There is evidence that apps are helping elderly population as much as
they help health workers. The benefits of reviewed apps are to help reduce
rates of forgetting and of medication errors, and also increases perceived in-
dependence in managing medication. However, currently available applications
for smart mobile terminals used by the aged, which serve as the important
carrier of various internet services for elderly people, have obvious defects in
quantity, service range, and charm. Results show that in any app that we includ-
ed in this review there is room for improvement.
Discussion and Conclusions. It is important to bridge the gap between the elder-
ly people and modern technologies, which is achieved through more products
designed based on emotional care and construction, and by providing an ap-
propriate training program for the elderly population to use a smartphone. In
the future, research should focus on testing mobile health interventions in pa-
tients at risk for poor adherence and on standardizing alerts and protocols for
clinicians.
Keywords: elderly, technology, mobile app, ICT
179
