SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT THROUGH VIDEO CHAT FOR OLDER INDIVIDUALS WITH AND WITHOUT COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT

Social engagement, or lack thereof, has well-established effects on health and quality of life in older adults. Older adults with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI) use computers and internet for personal enjoyment, but the extent to which they will adopt technology to connect with others needs examination. This pilot study determined facilitators and barriers to the adoption of OneClick.chat, a novel online video platform that supports social interaction by connecting people virtually to discuss topics of shared interests. Twelve older adults (9 cognitively normal, 3 MCI; 70–86 years) were given a demonstration of OneClick.chat. Structured interviews before and after the demonstration identified facilitators and barriers. Although 58.3% of participants had never used video chat, 91.7% thought OneClick.chat was simple to use, 58.3% liked that they could see who they were talking to, 58.3% suggested using this platform to connect with individuals living far away, and 50.0% suggested using it to connect with people when house bound. Regarding potential barriers, 41.7% were concerned about multiple people talking simultaneously or one person dominating conversation and 16.7% mentioned needing additional help to learn to use OneClick.chat. System Usability Scale scores of 84.7 and 76.7 for the cognitively normal and MCI individuals, respectively, suggest that OneClick.chat is usable for both groups, but individuals with MCI may have additional design requirements. Overall, these preliminary findings suggest that older adults, including those with MCI, see the value in using an online video platform for social engagement.