Investigating Older Adults’ Attitudes towards Crisis Informatics Tools: Opportunities for Enhancing Community Resilience during Disasters

Title of the Paper

Investigating Older Adults’ Attitudes towards Crisis Informatics Tools: Opportunities for Enhancing Community Resilience during Disasters

Paper Information

• Research Domain: Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Crisis Informatics, Community Resilience
• Keywords: Crisis Informatics, Aging Population, Emergency Situations, Natural Disasters, Community Resilience, Sustainable Technology, Mobile Applications, Emergency Management

Research Background and Problems

• Identified Problems or Challenges:

  1. Despite the increasing adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) by older adults, their digital technology needs in emergency situations remain underexplored.
  2. Existing studies often portray older adults as passive victims during crises, rather than emphasizing their ability for independent decision-making.
  3. Crisis informatics tools typically focus on addressing individual needs, with limited exploration of how to enhance overall community resilience.
  4. There is a lack of dedicated research analyzing older adults’ interaction with digital technology during crises and the theoretical and practical design of tools tailored for them.

• Significance of the Research:
  The aging population is expected to grow significantly in the coming decades, particularly during crises such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and pandemics, where their health and lives are at higher risk. Designing crisis informatics tools that enhance community resilience has the potential to improve both individual and community-level disaster response capabilities.

• Motivation and Related Work:

  1. Older adults exhibit distinct preferences for crisis tools compared to younger groups due to differences in perceived control, social connectivity, and digital readiness.
  2. Literature highlights that older adults can enhance community resilience by increasing preparedness awareness and resource utilization.
  3. Current research predominantly focuses on older adults’ daily interactions with digital technology, with limited attention to technological support in crisis scenarios.

Solution

• Proposed Methods or Solutions:

  1. Conducted focus group interviews to investigate older adults’ attitudes and preferences regarding crisis informatics tools.
  2. Used modular scenario-based storyboarding to explore designs suitable for older adults in crisis applications.
  3. Focused on four core elements (local knowledge, emergency preparedness, community relationships, and communication) to enhance community resilience.

• Innovative Contributions:

  1. Proposed a new perspective that extends crisis informatics from individual support to community support.
  2. Shifted the stereotype of older adults from “passive victims” to “active community contributors.”
  3. Explored issues of information trust, balancing privacy concerns with functional requirements.

• Implementation Steps and Key Techniques:

  1. Recruited 18 participants aged 65 and above for focus group studies.
  2. Designed interviews and scenario-based storyboarding activities to uncover older adults’ genuine needs through participatory design.
  3. Used surveys to assess older adults’ perceived control, social relationships, and digital readiness, analyzing data through qualitative and quantitative methods.

Research Outcomes

• Specific Findings:

  1. Identified critical features of crisis tools related to community resilience, such as location-sensitive weather alerts, community group functionalities, and real-time emergency shelter information.
  2. Older adults expressed a strong willingness to use “crisis apps” to connect with family, neighbors, and emergency responders.
  3. Established the types of personal information older adults are willing to share during crises (e.g., emergency contact details and medication information) while emphasizing the importance of privacy and trust.

• Advantages Compared to Existing Solutions:

  1. Viewed community relationships as integral to crisis response rather than solely addressing individual issues.
  2. Designed tools to enhance older adults’ perceived control over crises, supporting their independence in action.
  3. Provided personalized solutions tailored to diverse needs, such as pre-disaster protective measures based on regional characteristics.

• Experimental or Evaluation Results:

  1. Participants reported high levels of perceived control and technological adaptability, with an average of at least weekly communication with family and friends.
  2. The modular scenario-based design method effectively revealed older adults’ functional requirements for crisis technology, highlighting potential for enhancing community resilience.

• Limitations and Future Directions:

  1. The study was limited to the northeastern coastal region, excluding a broader population sample (e.g., different ethnicities, income levels).
  2. Time constraints may have resulted in findings that less accurately reflect technology needs during pandemic periods.
  3. Further exploration is needed into the needs of older adults with low digital readiness, incorporating feedback from emergency management personnel.

Conclusion

This study investigates older adults’ interactions with crisis informatics tools, emphasizing how to enhance overall community resilience while providing valuable design recommendations for technology developers. Future research should validate the findings across broader geographic and demographic samples and include more diverse participant groups.