Building Seniors' Social Connections and Reducing Loneliness Through a Digital Game

Simone Hausknecht, Robyn Schell, Fan Zhang, David Kaufman

2015

Abstract

Quality of life is related to social interactions as social connectedness can be an important aspect in older adults’ sense of well-being. Technology offers many opportunities for older adults to build social connections and possibly reduce feelings of loneliness. In recent years, investigations into using digital games for older adults have shown some positive results. This study involved 73 participants in 14 different centres across a large city in western Canada. The group played in a Wii digital bowling tournament that lasted for eight weeks. Pre and post-tests were given to measure social connectedness, and loneliness. Semistructured interviews then were conducted with 17 participants. Positive results were found for social connectedness and loneliness.

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Paper Citation


in Harvard Style

Hausknecht S., Schell R., Zhang F. and Kaufman D. (2015). Building Seniors' Social Connections and Reducing Loneliness Through a Digital Game . 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 276-284. DOI: 10.5220/0005526802760284


in Bibtex Style

@conference{agewell15,
author={Simone Hausknecht and Robyn Schell and Fan Zhang and David Kaufman},
title={Building Seniors' Social Connections and Reducing Loneliness Through a Digital Game},
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={276-284},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0005526802760284},
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 - Building Seniors' Social Connections and Reducing Loneliness Through a Digital Game
SN - 978-989-758-102-1
AU - Hausknecht S.
AU - Schell R.
AU - Zhang F.
AU - Kaufman D.
PY - 2015
SP - 276
EP - 284
DO - 10.5220/0005526802760284