TY - JOUR

T1 - Use of cell phones by elders with impairments

T2 - Overall appraisal, satisfaction, and suggestions

AU - Mann, W.C.

AU - Helal, Sumi

AU - Davenport, R.D.

AU - Justiss, M.D.

AU - Tomita, M.R.

AU - Kemp, B.J.

PY - 2004

Y1 - 2004

N2 - Through the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Technology for Successful Aging (RERC-Tech-Aging) elder perspectives on cell phone designs and features were explored. Six-hundred and sixty-five participants (596 elders with disabilities, 69 adults with disabilities) from Northern Florida, Southern California, and Western New York were surveyed through face-to-face interviews, phone interviews, or mailed surveys. The survey addressed satisfaction, importance, frequency of use, methods for learning, barriers to use, views on features, and ways the cell phone had helped. The majority of elders (60%) valued their cell phone, and a large proportion (87%) use the cell phone for emergencies. Only one third of elders reported using their cell phone daily. Suggestions for improving phone design included increasing button size (50% of subjects), increasing display size (29% of subjects), increasing overall size of the cell phone (24% of subjects), and decreasing the complexity of the phone. © 2004 - IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved.

AB - Through the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Technology for Successful Aging (RERC-Tech-Aging) elder perspectives on cell phone designs and features were explored. Six-hundred and sixty-five participants (596 elders with disabilities, 69 adults with disabilities) from Northern Florida, Southern California, and Western New York were surveyed through face-to-face interviews, phone interviews, or mailed surveys. The survey addressed satisfaction, importance, frequency of use, methods for learning, barriers to use, views on features, and ways the cell phone had helped. The majority of elders (60%) valued their cell phone, and a large proportion (87%) use the cell phone for emergencies. Only one third of elders reported using their cell phone daily. Suggestions for improving phone design included increasing button size (50% of subjects), increasing display size (29% of subjects), increasing overall size of the cell phone (24% of subjects), and decreasing the complexity of the phone. © 2004 - IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved.

KW - Cellular phones

KW - Equipment design

KW - Frail elderly

KW - adult

KW - aged

KW - article

KW - controlled study

KW - disability

KW - emergency health service

KW - equipment design

KW - female

KW - geriatric care

KW - human

KW - interview

KW - learning

KW - major clinical study

KW - male

KW - mobile phone

KW - patient satisfaction

KW - postal mail

KW - telephone

KW - United States

M3 - Journal article

VL - 16

SP - 49

EP - 57

JO - Technology and Disability

JF - Technology and Disability

SN - 1055-4181

IS - 1

ER -