Assistive technology, aging, and disability: Integration of perspectives on adaptation and accommodation

The experiences of both disability and use of assistive technology are prevalent in older adulthood. When an assistive technology is prescribed, it is widely expected to improve functioning and independence of older adults with disabilities. However, the effective implementation of assistive technology is contingent upon a deep understanding of the physical, psychological, and environmental context in which it is applied. The overarching goal of this dissertation was to unravel the complex relationships between disability and assistive technology use and examine the role of assistive technology in supporting older adults’ health and well-being in later life. Using cross-sectional and longitudinal data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study, we conducted three studies to examine 1) the dynamics of disability and assistive technology use over five years; 2) the mechanisms through which mobility limitations affect future well-being; and 3) the conceptualizations and combined effects of multiple assistive technology use on health-related outcomes. In the first study, we developed an 8-level spectrum to capture the nuances as well as transitions in disability and assistive technology use between 2015 and 2019. Our results demonstrated the intraindividual dynamics of disability and assistive technology use among older populations, and that using assistive technology did not always resolve activity difficulties and prevent individuals from receiving help from others. Findings further suggested that older adults’ well-being was best preserved when assistive technology enabled them to participate fully and independently in daily activities. In the second study, we investigated whether psychological coping strategies mediate the relationship between mobility limitations and subjective well-being. In this longitudinal study, we found that goal pursuit and goal adjustment were two important but underexplored factors mediating the association between mobility limitations at baseline and well-being in the future. We also found that assistive technology had a unique impact on older adults’ goal pursuit and adjustment in different environments. In the third study, we proposed four distinct indices to conceptualize and calculate the combined effects of multiple assistive technology use on older adults’ subjective well-being and participation restrictions. We found that multiple assistive technology use was rather common, with older adults using various combinations of devices to help with different daily mobility and self-care activities. Our results also revealed that the contributions of assistive technology use on health outcomes were highly dependent on the index employed. In sum, findings from this dissertation not only demonstrate the benefits of using assistive technology in improving health and well-being among older populations, but also illustrate what, when, and where assistive technology is most instrumental in supporting older adults in their complex living situations. Moreover, our work suggests that assistive technology holds great potential to address the intersection of aging and disability. However, to maximize the power of technology and support older adults in living their life to the fullest extent, there is a pressing need for clinical practitioners, community health organizations, and policymakers to adopt interdisciplinary approaches and attend to the challenges that older adults experience in daily life.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Community Health

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2023

Author dc:creator

• Su, Tai-Te

Contributors dc:contributor

• Mejía, Shannon T.
• Chiu, Chung-Yi
• Gao, Xiaotian
• Rogers, Wendy A.

• Disability
• Aging
• Assistive Technology
• Adaptation
• Accommodation

Statement dc:rights

• © 2023 Tai-Te Su All Rights Reserved

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/120509

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F120509