I'm pleased to share a new publication in the Journal of Applied Gerontology led by Natalie Tham from our
@visuAAL_ITN team at the
@TCPHI_TCD
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.…
The paper investigates why older adults tend to delay accepting camera-based active and assisted living (AAL) technologies, and identifies future self-continuity (the sense of psychological connectedness to one's future self) as a key driver of acceptance. Key findings include:
• Older adults with a more vivid and positive image of their future selves are significantly more likely to accept AAL technologies, as they better recognise the long-term benefits these technologies offer.
• Lower future self-continuity leads to underweighting those long-term benefits, helping explain why older adults so often postpone acceptance.
• The findings point toward developing future interventions to move beyond usability and practical barriers to also support older adults in building a stronger psychological connection with their future selves.
• Acceptance-facilitating interventions should prioritise helping older adults envision their future selves more vividly and positively, rather than focusing on how similar they feel to their future self.
Great work by Natalie and the team, a novel and important contribution to the technology acceptance literature.
@abrady4 @TCD_SNM