Abstract
Past studies propose that attitudinal factors and perceived self-efficacy accounted for seniors’ unwillingness to adopt technologies compared to their younger counterparts, particularly seniors with cognitive impairment (e.g., Gonzaléz, Ramírez & Viadel, 2015). On the other hand, healthy seniors feel more positive and more confident in their ability to use technology after some training but not seniors with dementia (Wild et al., 2012). No studies have examined whether a specially-designed technological program for seniors with dementia would positively impact their responses to technology use. We investigated the attitudinal factors and interest in technology use in healthy and dementia seniors as part of a pilot computerized cognitive intervention program. Four cognitively healthy seniors (aged 72–78 years), and four seniors diagnosed with mild-to-moderate stages of dementia (aged 73–90 years) were recruited to participate in twelve training sessions where they play cognitive games on a touch-screen tablet over four weeks. Participants’ attitudes towards technology were obtained before and after the program and affect was coded from recorded observations of the sessions. Healthy seniors reported more positive attitudes towards technology than seniors with dementia pre-program (Us<1.00, ps<.037) but the latter’s attitudes improved such that differences were not found post-program. Additionally, for seniors with dementia, post-program attitudes was positively correlated with reported interests in continued usage of technology (rho=.949, p=.051). Levels of anxiety also decreased over the course of the program (16% to 0%), while interests in technology increased (52% to 78%). These findings suggest that specially-designed gerontechnology can positively affect seniors’ outlook regarding technology use.