{"id":95617,"date":"2024-09-13T15:54:35","date_gmt":"2024-09-13T19:54:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=95617"},"modified":"2024-09-30T17:19:20","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T21:19:20","slug":"research-supporting-seniors-independence-among-new-sshrc-funded-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2024\/09\/research-supporting-seniors-independence-among-new-sshrc-funded-projects\/","title":{"rendered":"Research supporting seniors’ independence among new SSHRC-funded projects"},"content":{"rendered":"

For older adults wishing to age in their own homes and communities, voice-activated tools such as Google’s virtual assistant or a smart speaker could make engaging in leisure activities or performing a range of tasks much easier.<\/p>\n

Yet very little research has been done on how older adults might adapt to using assistive technologies over time or how these tools can impact their well-being and quality of life, says Alisa Grigorovich.<\/p>\n

The Brock University Assistant Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies will be able to pursue this line of research thanks to an Insight Grant from the federal government\u2019s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).<\/p>\n

Grigorovich is among five Brock University researchers recently awarded a SSHRC Insight Grant<\/a> or Insight Development Grant<\/a>. In total, Brock researchers received $634,753.<\/p>\n

The grants are part of a funding announcement made Friday, Sept. 13<\/a> by the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of National Revenue, on behalf of the Honourable Fran\u00e7ois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. Also included in the announcement were the results of Tri-Agency scholarships and fellowships for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very grateful for SSHRC\u2019s long-running, unwavering support of Brock University\u2019s innovative and impactful scholarship,\u201d says Michelle McGinn, Acting Brock Vice-President, Research. \u201cThis round has an eclectic mix of fascinating topics, including increasing migrants\u2019 political participation in Niagara, deepening our understanding of global mutual fund markets and even a peek into the lives of women in ancient Greece.”<\/p>\n

In the early stages of her project, Grigorovich and her team aim to understand how older adults interact with, and adapt to, using a smart speaker with a built-in voice-activated Google Assistant. They will also explore how this technology adjusts to user behaviours and preferences in real time.<\/p>\n

In doing so, the team will assess if and how this dynamic process of \u201cco-adaptation\u201d contributes to enhancing the capabilities of older adults\u2019 to \u201csuccessfully age in place,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

As the work progresses, the team will analyze the impact of older adults\u2019 use of different voice-activated virtual assistants on their well-being over time.<\/p>\n

This lays the groundwork for the project\u2019s final phase, which is to co-design ways of promoting the use of voice-activated virtual assistants with older adults to help those living at home have a higher quality of life, says Grigorovich.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re excited by how these tools can enrich older adults\u2019 well-being and empower them to successfully age in place by supporting their social participation and engagement in activities and enabling their access to new kinds of digital experiences which have psychological, physical, creative and social benefits,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Recipients of SSHRC\u2019s latest round of Insight Grants are:<\/p>\n