Cultural Impact on Perceptions of Aging, Care, and Lifelogging Technology: A Comparison between Turkey and Germany

Author(s):

• Julia Offermann-van Heek
• Wiktoria Wilkowska
• Martina Ziefle

Abstract:

An aging society characterized by rising numbers of people in need of assistance and care poses tremendous challenges for care services, hospitals, families, and the whole society. Using assisting technologies represents a potential support and relief for aged individuals, people in need of care, and their caregivers. Despite their advantages, existing concerns and barriers regarding these technologies (e.g., data security, privacy) impede the user’s acceptance. Beyond that, acceptance and the perception of technology-related benefits and barriers depend on the diversity of the future users: e.g., their cultural background as well as attitudes toward aging and care. Applying an online questionnaire, this article aims at an exemplary comparison of Turkish and German participants’ perceptions and acceptance of using lifelogging cameras as technical application. This study investigates how participants of the two countries handle and evaluate the topics aging and care, and to what extent these attitudes are connected with the perception and acceptance of assisting technologies. Findings revealed significant differences between Turkish and German participants’ attitudes, their perceptions of benefits and barriers as well as acceptance of lifelogging cameras. The results indicated that assisting technologies have to be tailored specifically to the respective users.

Documentation:

https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2020.1809247

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