Barriers and Adaptations of a Digital Game for Older Adults

Robyn Schell, Simone Hausknecht, David Kaufman

2015

Abstract

The number of older adults playing digital games is increasing. However, there are few studies that focus on barriers that can limit ageing players from fully participating in these games. This paper describes some key findings regarding barriers reported by 17 older adults who played Wii bowling in an eight week tournament and how they adapted their playing style to overcome these barriers. This qualitative study found that physical issues such as visual impairment, balance, and strength affected the way these older adults played, but these limitations did not appear to curtail their enjoyment of the game. This may be partly due to adaptations they implemented in order to play such as using walkers, canes and other aids to support themselves. Adequate space was an important consideration for those using such aids.

References

  1. Astell, A. J. (2013). Technology and fund for a happy old age. Technologies for Active Ageing-International Perspectives on Ageing, 9, 169-187.
  2. Bowling, A., and Dieppe, P. (2005). What is successful ageing and who should define it? BMJ: British Medical Journal (International Edition), 331(7531), 1548-1551.
  3. Buiza, C., Gonzales, M. F., Facal, D., Martinez, V., Diaz, U., Etxaniz, A., Urdaneta, E., Yanguas, J. (2009). Efficacy of cognitive training experiences in the elderly: Can technology help? In C. Stephanidis (Ed.), Universal access in human-computer interaction: Addressing diversity (pp. 324-333). Berlin: Springer.
  4. Charness, N., and Holley, P. (2004). The new media and older adults: Usable and useful? American Behavioral Scientist, 48(4), 416-433.
  5. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Flow and education. NAMTA Journal, 22(2), 2-35.
  6. De Schutter, R. (2011). Never too old to play: The appeal of digital games to an older audience. Games and Culture, 6(2), 155-170.
  7. De Schutter, R., and Abeele, V. (2010). Designing meaningful play within the psycho-social context of older adults. Fun and Games, (September), 13-15.
  8. Entertainment Software Association (2005). Essential facts about the computer and video game industry: Sales, demographics, and usage. Retrieved February 15, 2015 from http://www.tntg.org/documents/gamefacts.pdf.
  9. Entertainment Software Association (2011). Essential facts of the computer and video game industry. Retrieved February 16, 2013, from http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/ESA_EF_2011.pdf.
  10. Goldstein, J. H., Cajko, L., Oosterbroek, M., Michielsen, M., van Houten, O., and Salverda, F. (1997). Video games and the elderly. Social Behavior and Personality, 25(4), 345-352. doi:10.2224/sbp.1997.25.4.345.
  11. House, J. S., Landis, K. R., and Umberson, D. (1988). Social relationships and health. Science, 24(1), 540- 545.
  12. IJsselsteijn, W., Nap, H. H., De Kort, Y., and Poels, K. (2007). Digital game design for elderly users. In Future Play 7807: Proceedings of the 2007 conference on future play (pp. 17-22). New York, NY: ACM Press. doi: 10.1145/1328202.1328206.
  13. Kaufman, D., (2013, October) Aging well: Can digital games help? Overview of the project. Paper presented at the World Social Science Forum 2013, Montreal, QC.
  14. Khoo, E., and Cheok, A. (2006). Age invaders: Intergenerational mixed reality family game. The International Journal of Virtual Reality, 5(2), 45-50.
  15. Marston, H. R. (2013). Design recommendations for digital game design within an ageing society. Educational Gerontology, 39(2), 103-118. doi:10.1080/03601277.2012.689936.
  16. McPherson, M., and Smith-Lovin, L. (2006). Social isolation in America: Changes in core discussion networks over two decades. American Sociological Review, 71, 353-375.
  17. Nap, H. H., de Kort, Y. A. W., and IJsselsteijn, W. A. (2009). Senior gamers: Preferences, motivations and needs. Gerontechnology, 8(4), 247-262. doi:10.4017/gt.2009.08.04.003.00.
  18. Nimrod, G. (2009). Senior's online communities: A quantitative content analysis. The Gerontologist, 50(3), 382-392. doi:10.1093/geront/gnp141.
  19. Pew Research Center (2010). .Four in ten seniors go online. Retrieved June 2, 2013 from http://www.pewinternet.org/Commentary/2010/Januar y/38-of-adults-age-65-go-online.aspx.
  20. Putnam, R. D. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.
  21. Rowe, J. W., and Kahn, R. L. (1997). Successful aging. Gerontologist, 37(4), 433-440.
  22. Rowe, J. W., and Kahn, R. L. (1998). Successful aging Random House, New York, NY.
  23. Saldana, J. (2009). The coding manual for qualitative research. London: SAGE.
  24. Sauvé, L., Renaud, L., Kaufman, D., and Duplàa, E. (2015, in press). Validation of educational games for seniors: Live well, live healthy! Procedia - Social and Behavioural Sciences.
  25. Sixsmith, A. (2006). New technologies to support independent living and quality of life for people with dementia. Alzheimer's Care Quarterly, 7(3), 194-202.
  26. Stebbins, R. (2007). Serious leisure: A perspective for our time. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
  27. Trepte, S., Reinecke, L., and Juechems, K. (2012). The social side of gaming: How playing online computer games creates online and offline social support. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(3), 832-839. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2011.12.003.
  28. Whitcomb, R. (1990). Computer games for the elderly. In Proceedings of the Conference on Computers and the Quality of Life (CQL 7890 (pp. 112-115). New York: ACM. doi:10.1145/97344.97401.
  29. Wollersheim, D., Merkes, M., Shields, N., Liamputtong, P., Wallis, L., Reynolds, F., and Koh, L. (2010). Physical and psychosocial effects of wii video game use among older women. International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society, 8(2), 85-98.
  30. World Health Organization (WHO) (2002). Active Ageing: A Policy Framework. Geneva: World Health Organization. Retrieved Sept 1, 2014 from. http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2002/WHO_NMH_NPH_ 02.8.pdf.
  31. Xie, B. (2002). Older adults, computers and the internet: Future directions. Gerontechnology, 2(4), 289-305.
Download


Paper Citation


in Harvard Style

Schell R., Hausknecht S. and Kaufman D. (2015). Barriers and Adaptations of a Digital Game for Older Adults . In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Ageing Well and e-Health - Volume 1: AGEWELL, (CSEDU 2015) ISBN 978-989-758-102-1, pages 269-275. DOI: 10.5220/0005524002690275


in Bibtex Style

@conference{agewell15,
author={Robyn Schell and Simone Hausknecht and David Kaufman},
title={Barriers and Adaptations of a Digital Game for Older Adults},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Ageing Well and e-Health - Volume 1: AGEWELL, (CSEDU 2015)},
year={2015},
pages={269-275},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0005524002690275},
isbn={978-989-758-102-1},
}


in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Ageing Well and e-Health - Volume 1: AGEWELL, (CSEDU 2015)
TI - Barriers and Adaptations of a Digital Game for Older Adults
SN - 978-989-758-102-1
AU - Schell R.
AU - Hausknecht S.
AU - Kaufman D.
PY - 2015
SP - 269
EP - 275
DO - 10.5220/0005524002690275