The Housing Experiment: Citizen Science Engaging Older Adults and School Pupils to Assess Housing Accessibility

Abstract Citizen science is gaining momentum as an approach in many scientific fields. However, it is scarcely used in aging research. Since 2009 in Sweden, Public & Science (NGO) has coordinated an annual mass-experiment where thousands of school pupils have collected data that would have been impossible for researchers to collect on their own. Designed as a cross-generational endeavour, the 2020 mass-experiment, the Housing Experiment, is based on scientific methodology for data collection on housing accessibility. The aim of this presentation is to describe the iterative development process involving older adults, stakeholders in the housing sector, teachers and pupils. We will present the app and instructions developed and piloted for data collection, as well as usability and interrater reliability results. With media attention already in the planning phases, this citizen science initiative has the potential to both generate a unique dataset and increase engagement in housing matters concerning the aging population.


USER INVOLVEMENT IN RESEARCH ON AGING AND HEALTH: CREATING KNOWLEDGE AND TECHNOLOGIES WITH OLDER ADULTS
Chair: Sofi Fristedt Co-Chair: Anna Wanka Discussant: Neil Charness Although, user involvement is largely recognized as instrumental when developing relevant knowledge, services as well as products -aging populations are still likely to be sparsely involved in such processes. Surprisingly, many gerontechnologies are still developed based on a technological perspective rather than a gerontological perspective. Consequently, age-related changes as well as needs, actual use or perceptions of older adults are disregarded or neglected. Similar problems apply to public and private environments with potentially negative implications on accessibility. The present symposium includes four presentations that address user involvement, by capturing older adults' and aging populations' use as well as perceptions of emerging technologies, successful development of gerontechnologies, and a multigenerational mass-experiment on housing accessibility in later life. The first study from Germany captures the everyday situation of smartphone use as well as aspects of user experience, affect and social context among older adults. The second study addresses perceptions and attitudes of three generations in Sweden related to continuous technological advancement of products intended to support active and healthy aging. The third presentation will describe the iterative development process of the 2020 mass-experiment -the Housing Experiment --involving older adults, stakeholders in the housing sector, teachers and pupils in Sweden. The fourth presentation from Canada explores the benefits, challenges, and solutions to support older adult engagement in research that leads to the successful development of technologies for and with older adults. Finally, our discussant will further elaborate on the respective study findings and summarize the symposium.

USER ATTITUDES TOWARD RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNOLOGIES: PERSPECTIVES FROM THREE GENERATIONS
Steven Schmidt, 1 Sofi Fristedt, 2 Charlotte Löfqvist, 1 and Susanne Iwarsson, 1 1. Lund University,Lund,Skane Lan,Sweden,2. Jonkoping University,Lund,Jonkopings Lan,Sweden New technologies are being touted as solutions to many societal challenges not least of which are ageing and health. However, the rapid development of new technologies is proceeding with little input from older adults. This presentation highlights the perceptions and attitudes of three age cohorts related to the continuous technological advancement of products intended to support active and healthy aging. Participants were 30-39 (n= 639), 50-59 (n=703), 70-79 (n=779) yearsold randomly sampled from the Swedish population registry. Results showed both similarities and difference across generations. For example, 24%-35% of older adults would like to use home monitoring devices (e.g. fall sensors, smart home devices) to support active and healthy aging, compared to 35%-56% of younger groups. More than 82% of all groups highlighted the importance of involving intended users in the development process. Results can be used to support the needs and desires of current older adults and future generations.

THE HOUSING EXPERIMENT: CITIZEN SCIENCE ENGAGING OLDER ADULTS AND SCHOOL PUPILS TO ASSESS HOUSING ACCESSIBILITY
Susanne Iwarsson, 1 Fredrik Brounéus, 2 Knut mårtensson, 3 and Marianne Granbom, 4 1. Lund University, Lund, Skane Lan, Sweden,2. Vetenskap & Allmänhet,Stockholm,Stockholms Lan,Sweden,3. miThings,Lund,Skane Lan,Sweden,4. Lund University,Lund,Sweden Citizen science is gaining momentum as an approach in many scientific fields. However, it is scarcely used in aging research. Since 2009 in Sweden, Public & Science (NGO) has coordinated an annual mass-experiment where thousands of school pupils have collected data that would have been impossible for researchers to collect on their own. Designed as a cross-generational endeavour, the 2020 mass-experiment, the Housing Experiment, is based on scientific methodology for data collection on housing accessibility. The aim of this presentation is to describe the iterative development process involving older adults, stakeholders in the housing sector, teachers and pupils. We will present the app and instructions developed and piloted for data collection, as well as usability and interrater reliability results. With media attention already in the planning phases, this citizen science initiative has the potential to both generate a unique dataset and increase engagement in housing matters concerning the aging population.

ENGAGING OLDER ADULTS IN TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH: PERSPECTIVES ON BARRIERS AND FACILITATORS USING A CASE STUDY APPROACH Susan Kirkland, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
The aim of OA-INVOLVE is to provide recommendations to support older adult engagement in research that leads to the successful development of technologies for and with older adults. To support this aim we conducted a longitudinal case study project in which we interviewed eight AGE-WELL research teams conducting technology projects to explore the benefits, challenges, and solutions for meaningful engagement. Members of the OA-INVOLVE Older Adult Research Partner Group (OARPG) were involved in all aspects of the project. Findings from the case studies provided important insights regarding structural, contextual, and individual factors that enable and constrain active involvement of older adults. Many projects reported developing unique "workarounds" in order to move beyond involving older adults as participants to involving them as advisors and decision makers. Researchers identified that they often lack the skills, training and resources to engage older adults in a meaningful way and could benefit from capacity building.

PURPOSES OF SMARTPHONE USE IN LATER LIFE: USER PERSPECTIVES ON DIGITAL DAILY LIFE IN GERMANY
Friedrich Wolf, 1 and Frank Oswald, 2 , 1. Interdisciplinary Ageing Research (IAW), Frankfurt,Hessen,Germany,2. Interdisciplinary Ageing Research,Frankfurt,Hessen,Germany Smartphones affect everyday life of people across the lifespan with increasing relevance in later life. Although half of older adults in Germany (65+) use smartphones and the numbers of users are growing, only few studies address the integration of older adult's smartphone use in everyday life as well as its potential effects on social context and wellbeing, which is been done in this study. Data are drawn from surveying the devices of 35 older adults (age 61-77 years; 60% women), allowing to objectively monitor real time smartphone use over the course of a regular week. In addition a semi-standardized ambulatory assessment procedure is administered four times a day to capture the everyday situation of smartphone use as well as aspects of user experience, affect and social context. Preliminary findings show inter-and intra-individual differences in everyday smartphone use in relation to individual differences in social context and wellbeing.

BIAS AND MISSING DATA: REPRESENTATION OF OLDER ADULTS WITH SENSORY IMPAIRMENT IN EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDIES
Chair: Bonnielin Swenor Co-Chair: Alden Gross Diverse research populations are necessary to maximize the generalizability of results. Differences between people, including age, gender, racial or ethnic origin may impact observed associations in epidemiologic studies or influence the efficacy and safety of interventions in controlled trials. For these reasons, the diversity of research study populations is critical to public health and well-being. While there have been concerted efforts to examine and enhance the representation of older adults in research studies, not all subgroups of these populations, including those with sensory impairments, have been considered. Approximately 55% of adults 60 years and older have a vision and/or hearing impairment, yet despite this high prevalence, little attention has been paid to determining if or how sensory impairment affects research study participation or measurement of outcomes. This symposium aims to address these gaps, with a focus on how vision and hearing impairments may be associated with bias and missing data in epidemiologic studies of cognition and cognitive aging. The objective of this session is to highlight ongoing work in this novel area, and spark discussion and collaborations to catalyze this area of research. Despite its high prevalence, the impact of hearing impairment on completion of cognitive tests, many of which rely on auditory input to access test material, has not been described. We investigated if hearing impairment is associated with missing scores in 3602 adults (72-94 years, 23% black, 60% female). Cognition was measured using 10 neurocognitive tests. Pure tone better-ear hearing thresholds (0.5-4 kHz) were averaged and categorized. ≥Moderate hearing impairment (versus none) was associated with greater missingness on two auditory tests: Logical Memory (prevalence ratio [PR]:1.40, 95% confidence interval [CI]:1.01,1.70) and Digits Backwards (PR:1.35, 95% CI:1.00,1.82); and the non-auditory Trail Making Test Part B (PR:1.48, 95% CI:1.24,1.77). Compared to models using complete cognitive data, models that imputed missing scores showed stronger associations of hearing impairment with poor cognitive performance. Older adults with HI are less likely to complete cognitive testing, resulting in biased estimates of the hearing impairment-cognitive performance relationship.