Usability of a Digital Elder Mistreatment Screening Tool for Older Adults with Visual and Hearing Disabilities

摘要

Elder mistreatment (EM) is a public health problem that affects 10% of Americans aged 60 or older. As the number of older adults increases due to national demographics, instances of elder mistreatment are also likely to increase without services in place to prevent it. The goal of our study was to evaluate the usability and feasibility of the VOICES tablet-based elder mistreatment screening tool with older adults who have visual and hearing disabilities. VOICES is a tablet-based self-administrated digital health tool that screens, educates, and motivates older adults to self-report elder mistreatment. Study participants included older adults who were blind, had low vision, were deaf, or were hard of hearing. Findings from this study will inform geriatricians, user interface designers, digital health professionals, and the general public on the specific needs of older adults with disabilities and universal design considerations for digital health applications intended to be used by older adults with visual or hearing disabilities.