Introduction to smart wearables in active ageing

Even though seniors seem to embrace the use of smart wearables that they perceive as useful and affordable (Vargemidis et al., 2020), only 3.3% of smart wearables users are seniors (Abouzahra & Ghasemaghaei, 2022). In addition, this low adoption rate of smart wearables is mirrored in other smart technologies as well that have been present for years, such as smartphones (Abouzahra & Ghasemaghaei, 2022). Seniors’ technology adoption is affected by several factors, such as “value, usability, affordability, accessibility, emotion, confidence, independence, compatibility, reliability, social and technical support, and cost” (Araullo & Potter, 2016, p. 60).

In their study Abouzahra and Ghasemaghaei (2022) demonstrated that seniors who were familiar with technology were also willing and able to use effectively to their full potential a smart wearable that tracks daily PA, whereas seniors who did not frequently interacted with technology, had difficulties using the device, felt frustrated or even did not use it all. This indicates that lack of technology skills stops seniors from adopting such devices. Lack of trust in technology and lack of support while learning to use the device are also some important barriers for seniors (Seifert et al., 2017). Sociodemographic factors can also act as barriers; it has been demonstrated that seniors younger than 75 years, with higher education levels, more income, with a strong interest in technology, and with a healthier overall status have higher rates of adopting smart wearables tracking devices (Li, 2023; Seifert et al., 2017).

Mrs. Maria is a 55-year-old female and has been practicing Pilates mat twice a week for the last 5 years. She has some difficult time remaining consistent to her workout schedule though due to her work; she is a bus driver and must work in shifts. Even though she has never used a smart wearable device, she recognizes their value since those devices can offer insights about physiological functions during workout. According to her, this is the greatest motivation for her to use one in order to gain awareness about her physiological functions during her workouts, and to increase her daily PA, such as increasing daily steps taken. A possible barrier to the adoption of a smart wearable tracking device would be the price and convenience of the device; if for any reason, interrupts the flow of the activity/workout, she wouldn’t want to use one.

Mrs Maria is motivated enough to remain physically active through structured workouts, since she has been practising pilates mat for the last 5 years. However, life-demands gets in the way, making her realise that she needs to be more active during her daily life. She already uses a smartphone and tried to count her steps through a mobile application, but she had to carry the phone all the time on her and that wasn’t convenient for her at all. The fact that she recognises the basic functions of smart wearable devices without owning one, demonstrates an individual who is interested in technology and is willing to try out new technological devices.

When she shared the above information with her trainer, the latter suggested to her to buy a smartwatch. Smartwatches are not expensive, depending of course on the smartphone someone owns, and there is a wide range available to choose from regarding price, size, and colour. In addition, they are convenient since you can wear them on your wrist allowing the user to perform their daily activities and workout without any interruption; they perform all their functions without any special requirements or attention from the user; and lastly the user can use them actively not just passively. Some active usage is when the user chooses the appropriate function of the smartwatch to assess their sleep, and to measure heart rate, calories burnt, and training zone during a specific selected type of workout. Passive usage is when the user just wears the smartwatch to count their steps during the day or uses it as a regular watch to tell time.

After contemplating the matter for a few days, Mrs. Maria decided to buy one. As an experienced smartphone user, she had no major difficulties connecting the smartwatch to her smartphone; when she came across some difficulties, she asked younger family members to help her, who were more than glad to and embraced her decision for this advancement. The first few days she was using the smart watch passively for counting steps. However, she quickly became very confident and started using the smart watch during her workouts and other functions as well, such as assessing sleep quality at night, measuring heart beats and blood pressure, and stress levels.

After a month, Mrs. Maria is now more consistent with her workouts and enjoys measuring how many calories she burnt while working out. At the studio where she practises Pilates, at the end of the class, she asks other co-trainees about the data they get from their smartwatch, creating the feeling of friendly competition which boosts others’ motivation as well, not just hers. She also takes into consideration how many calories she burnt during the entire day and records her caloric income in a mobile application which is connected to the smart watch, in order to not consume more calories than she burns daily. Furthermore, if she misses one class due to other daily demands, she tries other activities, such as walking or jogging. She has set a personal goal to reach more than 8,000 steps every day.

Mrs. Maria was already motivated to remain engaged in her working-out regime, however due to other daily obligations she couldn’t always be consistent. She was looking for other ways to motivate herself to remain active therefore she tried using her smartphone to track other activities, such as walking, but the device wasn’t convenient for her. She was already aware of the benefits of using a smartwatch, showing an interest in technology as well, and when her trainer advised her that a smartwatch would be a great solution for her, she followed her advice. The only barriers that she had to overcome in order to adopt a new smart wearable tracking device, was convenience and price, which were easily overcome.

The results are only positive, since Mrs. Maria became in general more active, increased her working-out level, gained more self-awareness and has set personal goals. She is now more consistent in her working-out regime, performs light aerobic exercises, such as walking or jogging, with a goal/purpose (exceeding 8,000 steps/day) and is aware of her dietary needs in terms of calories. Furthermore, she feels more confident regarding her physical activities since now she is meaningfully active, has the control and the way to monitor them. All these together improve not just her physical condition, but her mental condition as well, leading to an improved sense of well-being.