The SHAPES pan-European pilot campaign aimed to enhance older adults’ health, well-being, and autonomy while promoting sustainable health and social care systems through smart technology interventions. Conducted across 11 countries and 15 pilot sites and 7 piloting themes, the SHAPES programme engaged older adults, caregivers, and professionals to validate interoperable innovations. Given the need to answer broader questions about the utility of digital supports for older adults’ quality-of-life, this study reports on a secondary analysis of harmonized psychosocial outcome data collected from 283 participants at baseline, end-of-pilot, and three-month follow-up across all of the SHAPES pilot themes. Findings indicate moderate-to-large improvements in environmental quality of life (QOL), self-rated health-related quality of life (HRQOL), perceived social support, and system usability. Anxiety and depression levels slightly declined, but no significant changes were observed in psychological, physical, or social relationship domains of QOL. Notably, HRQOL declined following the withdrawal of technology, raising ethical considerations regarding the sustainability of such interventions. While findings suggest that technology can positively shape older adults’ social and environmental contexts, further analyses are needed to disentangle these relationships. These results underscore the importance of continued technological support for ageing populations and the potential consequences of its removal.

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Longitudinal Psychosocial Outcomes from the SHAPES Smart and Healthy Ageing Pan-European Pilot Programme: An Ethical Issue in Discontinuing Beneficial Technologies Following the Completion of Research Trials?

  • Richard Lombard-Vance,
  • Tom Hall,
  • Rebecca Maguire,
  • Deirdre Desmond,
  • Sonia Grigoleit,
  • Malcolm Maclachlan

摘要

The SHAPES pan-European pilot campaign aimed to enhance older adults’ health, well-being, and autonomy while promoting sustainable health and social care systems through smart technology interventions. Conducted across 11 countries and 15 pilot sites and 7 piloting themes, the SHAPES programme engaged older adults, caregivers, and professionals to validate interoperable innovations. Given the need to answer broader questions about the utility of digital supports for older adults’ quality-of-life, this study reports on a secondary analysis of harmonized psychosocial outcome data collected from 283 participants at baseline, end-of-pilot, and three-month follow-up across all of the SHAPES pilot themes. Findings indicate moderate-to-large improvements in environmental quality of life (QOL), self-rated health-related quality of life (HRQOL), perceived social support, and system usability. Anxiety and depression levels slightly declined, but no significant changes were observed in psychological, physical, or social relationship domains of QOL. Notably, HRQOL declined following the withdrawal of technology, raising ethical considerations regarding the sustainability of such interventions. While findings suggest that technology can positively shape older adults’ social and environmental contexts, further analyses are needed to disentangle these relationships. These results underscore the importance of continued technological support for ageing populations and the potential consequences of its removal.