Factors that impact the level of difficulty of everyday technology in a sample of older adults with and without cognitive impairment

Everyday technologies (ET) are an important part of the environment in which we live and interact, and older adults with cognitive impairments have to be able to manage ETs in order to participate in society. The aim of the present study was to bring new insight into what makes an ET easy or difficult to use for older adults with and without cognitive impairment. Older adults with or without cognitive impairments (n=116) were observed managing 27 ETs. In order to analyze and detect variables that influenced the level of difficulty of the ETs managed, a regression analysis was used and predefined assumptions were investigated. The results revealed that ETs that were used less than once a week were more difficult to handle, as were those with a complex design. The results suggests that ETs, more specifically Information and Communication Technology, need to be designed to be more user-friendly and less complex, and older adults that wish to continue using an ET need to be frequent users. The age and gender of the user, and how long the ET had been in use did not relate to how difficult an ET was to manage.