| dc.description.abstract | The elderly population rat io in Taiwan continues to rise, it is estimated that Taiwan will become a super-aged society by 2025, where people aged 65 and above will account for more than 20% of the total population. Young people are not getting married or having children, or getting married later and having children later, consequently lowering the birth rate. The average number of people per household has dropped from 4.1 to 2.60, which leads to an aging population, where the lack of familial care is already a significant issue. The surge in development of smart home products in recent years enables the elderly in areas of safety control, home entertainment, household appliances, and home care, thus supporting the concept of aging in place.
This research is planned using the ethnomethodology of qualitative research to explore how the elderly’s use of communication software, visual software, and social media brings convenience to their lives, including their experience in purchasing and using smart home products. To gain a deeper understanding of the elderly population who did not previously use smart home products in their daily lives, the expectations after purchase, product selection, installation, use process, and experience, and how it benefits aging in place. This research is conducted through in-depth interviews with the elderly population and observations made of real-life examples of their use of smart home products.
The results of this research found that smart home products bring accessibility and convenience to the elderly, by assisting in household cleaning, providing valuable reminders, contacting relatives and friends, easing other life matters, and overall improving quality of life. Communication and visual software is an important tool for contacting, connecting, acquiring knowledge, and transmitting information, which can in turn enrich the lives of the elderly by closing the distance between relatives and friends. With the use of security monitoring equipment and internet-enabled equipment to carry out remote care, distance will no longer be a hindrance in providing care.
Based on the results of this study, the continued research of the elderly’s user experiences will promote the development and modification of smart home products, subsequently making it more suitable for elderly use. It is recommended that smart home product manufacturers develop application portfolios and multi-machine connections suitable for the elderly to use in support of aging in place. And to further develop innovative products, after-sales service, simplifying installation and user interfaces, making the products easier to operate, and increasing the willingness of the elderly to purchase, install and use the products by themselves. Simple and easy-to-understand Chinese apps that uses voice control technology, with an established and complete after-sales service system, would increase user confidence in these products and expand the market. In respect to sales strategy targeting the elderly population, establishing trial sites, appropriate media advertising channels and path to products will be key in bringing smart home products into their homes. Future considerations of establishing social enterprise organizations and companies will help reduce the barriers for the elderly to obtain and use smart home products.
This research finds the obstacles for the elderly to use family smart facilities to improve the convenience of life, as well as the current dilemma of manufacturers' R&D and sales strategies for the elderly. These findings will help to develop smart products that are more suitable for the elderly. Family smart facilities to help the elderly meet the needs of healthy local aging will be a topic that needs to be solved in the future. While highlighting the steady growth in the elderly population, along with meeting this social demand that requires more input from social enterprises. | en_US |
