A Qualitative Approach to Understanding User Needs for Aging with Disability

Abstract

There is a growing population of adults with long-term sensory and mobility impairments who are aging into older adulthood. Little is known about the everyday challenges and accessibility issues experienced by these individuals as they age and acquire age-related declines in addition to a pre-existing impairment. The present paper provides an overview of a large-scale interview study, currently in progress, exploring user needs of older adults with long-term vision, hearing, and mobility impairments. The structured interview is designed to elicit detailed information on task performance challenges across a wide range of daily activities, as well as strategies to manage those challenges. In this paper we provide case-study examples from each of the three impairment groups to convey the potential depth and breadth of insights about user needs among individuals aging with impairments that can be realized through this novel qualitative approach.