​OA-INVOLVE is dedicated to engaging older adults in technology research and development projects. Part of the research we conduct is exploring different participatory tools and methods that engage older adults. There are many reasons why active engagement and participation of older adults in technology research and development is so important. In part, it helps to develop technology that addresses older adults’ needs. In exploring ways of involving older adults in participatory ways, we introduced and discussed the idea of a Twitter Takeover event at a meeting in 2018 that involved both the Older Adult Research Partner Group (OARPG) and OA-INVOLVE researchers.
 
For those who are unfamiliar with the concept, a Twitter Takeover involves a specific guest or guests posting from, or “taking over” an agreed upon social media account for a short period of time. For our Twitter Takeover, OARPG members took over the OA-INVOLVE Twitter account (@OA_INVOLVE) during the 2018 AGE-WELL Annual Conference from October 16-18 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. OARPG members who attended the conference and wanted to part-take in the Twitter Takeover could do so by tweeting and posting photos about their experiences to the OA-INVOLVE Twitter account. Some of the OA-INOLVE researchers were also on-hand to assist OARPG members in tweeting messages and posting photos.  
 
During the conference, OARPG members tweeted spontaneous insights about their experiences with, and perspectives on, the conference activities. OARPG members included their initials at the beginning of their tweets to help identify themselves to OA-INVOLVE Twitter followers. For example, OARPG member Carole tweeted “CL: love the scientific talk about rural indigenous communities on Manitoulin Island. It made it really down to earth and human. And realized how much they rely on each other”.
 
Given the many activities at the conference, OARPG members tweeted about various experiences. Some of the OARPG members tweeted about how much they enjoyed speaking with the researchers presenting at the conference and learning first-hand about different projects in the field of technology research and development. Other OARPG members tweeted about their experiences in attending committee meetings and giving presentations at the conference. One OARPG member Ian tweeted, “IG: With #oarpg2018 Principal Susan Kirkland I attended the Older Adult and Caregiver Advisory Committee as a guest. I heard about strategies and efforts to ensure older adult participation in ongoing and future @AGEWELL_NCE projects.”
 
OA-INVOLVE and the OARPG are national groups that primarily meet online, as such, a face-to-face meeting with other members is rare. Many OARPG members enjoyed the opportunity to meet, interact, and bond with other OARPG members and the OA-INVOLVE researchers in person and demonstrated this through their Tweets. Carole shared this photo on the OA-INVOLVE Twitter account with the caption “This is the gang having a lovely lunch and bonding #OARPG2018 #AGEWELL2018”:








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​Based on our experience running this Twitter Takeover, we believe it was a successful participatory research tool with older adults. In addition to providing insights into older adult’s perspectives, experiences, and insights in attending the 2018 AGE-WELL Annual conference, it proved to be a very enjoyable and engaging experience for both researchers and OARPG members. Furthermore, we learned valuable insights in what is effective and ineffective in using a Twitter Takeover as a participatory research tool with older adults. We learned that providing training to older adults in learning how to tweet is essential in older adults feeling comfortable using Twitter. We also learned that a Twitter Takeover can be restrictive in who is able to feel engaged. For example, not all of our OARPG members were able to attend the conference which resulted in some members being unable to participate aside from following tweets. We plan to take these “lessons learned” into account for future Twitter Takeovers. Stay tuned for another Twitter Takeover event in late 2019!
 
To read more about our Twitter Takeover event please click on the following link: https://www.oa-involve-agewell.ca/our-reports.html  ​
 
To check out the OA-INVOLVE Twitter Account click here: https://twitter.com/oa_involve
 
By Amanda Jenkins, University of Guelph and Ashley-Ann Marcotte, University of Dalhousie 

Active involvement of older adults in AGE-WELL projects is vital to identifying technology-oriented solutions that will enable current and future generations of older adults and their caregivers to live and age well using technology.

However, the degree to which, and most importantly-how-older adults are engaged, as participants, advisors and decision-makers in the network’s technology research and development processes, are not well known.

To identify the scope of older adult involvement in AGE-WELL projects, the OA-INVOLVE project initiated a network survey in 2016. The first survey results can be found on the Reports webpage.
 
The results provide baseline data about the network’s engagement practices to share with the network. The results will also reveal how these practices might change over time, as the survey is repeated annually and the results between years are compared and analyzed.
 
In the summer 2017, we updated the survey questions (after reviewing the 2016 responses),  changed the survey format from a Word document to an online tool and re-issued the survey by email invitation to 60 prospective respondents within our network (as listed on the AGE-WELL website at the time of the survey). The surveyed groups were AGE-WELL WorkPackages (51), Cross Cutting Themes (4), Other (4) and the Network Management Office (1).
 
Highlights of the 2017 survey results:
 
Survey completion rate (all respondent groups):                                           76% (46/60)
 
Number of older adults, by role (current and future combined) reported by all respondent groups:




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Number of new prospective group respondents (since 2016 survey):          21
Number of new groups/23 who completed the 2017 survey:                                    17
Number of respondent groups who completed the 2016 and 2017 surveys:            27
 
What do this year’s survey results tell us about older adults’ active involvement in AGE-WELL projects?
 
80% of the older adults are reported to be (or will be) participants
10% of the older adults are reported to be (or will be) advisors
10% of the older adults are reported to be (or will be) decision makers
40% of the respondents reported ‘their’ older adults fulfil (or will fulfil) all 3 roles
 
Examples of what the respondents said:
…about older adult involvement:
“Older adults have been providing extremely valuable input into our development of digital games.”
 
…about their challenges involving older adults:
“We include older adults in our project to the level that they would like to be involved, it is therefore challenging to anticipate how many more of each role will be involved.”
 
…about their future plans for involving older adults:
“We wish to expand this project to involve a larger number of first nations elders from more band areas.”
 
Potential new questions about older adults’ involvement we can ask respondents in future surveys:
What strategies, activities, etc. do you use that help keep older adults engaged in their roles?
How long do older adults engage in their roles?
What challenges do you experience about older adult engagement?
Please provide an example of what an older adult does in the role of a participant, advisor and/or decision maker.

Watch for the 2017 Survey Results and the 2016 & 2017 Survey Results Comparison reports which will be posted to the Reports webpage.
 
Thank you to all respondents who completed the 2017 survey.

By Tanya Crawford, Dalhousie Univarsity

.As a fairly new team member with OA-INVOLVE at the time, it was exciting to be asked to put together a webinar for the team. This gave me an opportunity to actively contribute to the project and team and to learn more about AGE-WELL as a whole. This was the first webinar I had ever done, so it was definitely a new experience  - not completely different from doing a presentation using PowerPoint, but definitely unique since I didn’t have an audience to present to, as this was a virtual communication platform. In some ways, this reflected the importance of AGE-WELL, as the world moves towards more digital communication platforms. It also highlighted the importance of including everyone and making sure they also know how to use technologies, in moving towards digital platforms.
 
I was able to base parts of my webinar on my knowledge of Participatory Action Research (PAR) gained through my Ph.D. work, delve deeper into PAR as a method and approach to research, and learn about how PAR fits with AGE-WELL as a whole. Ultimately, this was a great opportunity to grasp and disseminate the importance of the work we do in OA-INVOLVE. To me, one of PAR’s greatest strengths is that it aims to prioritize participant/advisor/co-researcher perspectives (in this case, older adults), by co-creating parts (or all) of the research.
 
Since then, I’ve really experienced our improvement as a group in increasing our Older Adult Research Partner Group’s (OARPG) involvement. Being able to be at the AGE-WELL conference in Winnipeg and watch the OARPG’s conference presentation was a really wonderful experience for us, as well as others in attendance. We were able to learn from the OARPG, as they discussed their experiences and insights, and we were also able to increase the participatory nature of our work, as we began to include older adults as co-researchers in OA-INVOLVE. Since then, we continue to gain insights from the OARPG and understand how we can improve the participatory nature of our work. The OARPG is definitely key to our success as OA-INVOLVE.   
 
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By Oriana Vaccarino, University of Gueplh

In order to gain greater insight from older adults and researchers about involvement practises within AGE-WELL research and development practises, our team interviewed 8 principle investigators (PIs) and 2 older adults.  These interviews enabled project leads and older adults to reflect on, elaborate and provide a better understanding of the ways in which older adults are involved in their AGE-WELL projects and to understanding the barriers and facilitators to meaningful involvement.
 
I became involved with the OA-INVOLVE project mid August 2017.  At this point, the interviews were already completed and transcribed.  My task was to read, review and code the interviews to search for common themes that emerged.  Because I became involved with the OA-INVOLVE near the tail end of the 3-year project, reading and coding the interviews was actually an amazing way for me to quickly familiarize myself with the project.  In addition, as I was not deeply immersed in the project I was able to review the interview transcripts with a new set of eyes and write an initial iteration of the report with a fresh perspective.
 
I used NVIVO to code the transcripts and really enjoyed using the software.  I felt that the software was very helpful in helping me organize the codes and eventual themes, in a hierarchical manner. Having the ability to easily move codes into different categories depending on what themes emerged saved me a lot of time as I was working within a tight deadline.
 
The process of writing the first iteration of the report was interesting.    I was surprised at some of the themes that emerged.  For instance, in the category of barriers to older adults’ active engagement, many PIs mentioned structural and administrative barriers as challenges to meaningfully engaging older adults.  This theme was not only interesting, but an extremely important learning opportunity to understand the areas where ethic boards can build into their training and review process, the recognition and acknowledgement of diverse research approaches, such as participatory research approaches. A facilitator often mentioned is that recruiting, retaining and engaging older adults in technology and development projects is of personal interest to the older adults. Many older adults expressed their excitement at the possibilities of technologies enhancing their lives!  Moreover, relationship building by fostering familiarity and trust was identified by both researchers and older adults as a key facilitator. This meant having face-to-face meetings wherever possible, and getting to know each other on a personal level really helps break down barriers and fosters rapport. As Braun and Clarke suggest, the process of writing is really an integral part of the analysis.
 
In addition, I found it very encouraging that despite how busy the PIs were, most PIs interviewed were tremendously accommodating to the older adults in the research process.  For example, many PIs indicated they ensured that multiple communication channels were available when engaging with older adults – phone, email, meeting in person and even virtual mediums such as Skype!  Some PIs went above and beyond to accommodate - one PI even offered to drive an older adult to their next meeting if required!
 
The entire process of writing the case study report was very meaningful for our team –  we learned so much on the facilitators, barriers and the ways to best involve older adults in technology research and development process at the individual and research systems level and also the institutional and structural systems level. Findings demonstrated that changes to both ethical procedures and funding to council procedures were needed.  The OA-INVOVLE team provided such valuable input to the analysis and report writing.  The final report was a result of great team work!
 
In October 2017, our team attended AGE-WELL’s annual general conference in Winnipeg to share our research activities, and more importantly, three members of our Older Adult Research Partner Group joined us! It was really rewarding that we were able to provide older adults the opportunity to not only participate in our project, but to attend AGE-WELL’s annual conference and contribute as co-researchers within the OA-INVOLVE project!
 
Author: Jennifer Diep, Simon Fraser University 

Documenting best practices for the involvement of older adults in aging and technology research, and supporting the implementation of best practices across the AGE-WELL network is central to the mandate of OA-INVOLVE. We knew from the beginning of our project that in order to promote best practices, we also had to live by them. This meant that it wasn’t enough for us (academics) to conduct research in isolation. It was important to include older adults as research partners within OA-INVOLVE.  As a result, in September 2016 we formed the Older Adult Research Partner Group (OARPG) to involve older people as decision makers and advisors in OA-INVOLVE. Older Adults from each of our four geographic locations (Halifax, Guelph, Toronto, and Vancouver) were invited to join the OARPG, to be involved in both a national and local capacity.

National meetings take place 4-5 times per year, and involve a video conference attended by all members of the OA-INVOLVE team. At these meetings big picture aspects of the project are discussed and members provide input on varying topics including project plans and research findings. Local meetings similarly take place 4-5 times per year (sometimes in conjunction with the national meetings), and are attended in person, providing an opportunity for fruitful face-to-face discussion. At these meetings, we discuss aspects of the project at a deeper level and engage in hands on work that contributes to the broader research goals of OA-INVOLVE. Between meetings we all communicate through email or phone.

The local meetings are a cornerstone to OA-INVOLVE’s work. Speaking as a representative from the Guelph site, I have learned that personal connections are an important component of this type of work, and it’s the local meetings that make personal connections possible. When the Guelph group was first formed, we met with interested members in local coffee shops to not only share information about the project, but to also get to know each other. During local meetings we share a meal together and talk about our plans for holidays, our families, exciting events happening in Guelph, and of course OA-INVOLVE!

At one of our recent meetings we asked members what makes a good research project, and one member responded with “people like you, who put in the time to get to know us”. It is centrally important to the work that we are doing. Members feel comfortable providing critical feedback about the project, and providing helpful advice that can be passed on to other AGE-WELL projects. From members of the OARPG we have also learned what makes research involvement meaningful to them, beyond personal connections. Members have conveyed that they want to share their ideas and see the impact of their work. They want clear roles, and to be certain that we have listened to their ideas. We are learning more each time we meet with the OARPG, and these findings will help to inform best practices for the involvement of older adults in aging and technology research.
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This month, we attended AGE-WELL’s annual general conference in Winnipeg, and we are pleased that three members of the OARPG were in attendance. The conference was a great learning opportunity for all of us. Stay tuned for upcoming blogs from OARPG members on their experiences at the conference!
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Author: Karli Stroud, HQP, University of Guelph

OA- INVOLVE is an AGE-WELL project with the mandate to document best practices of older adult involvement in aging and technology research, and to support the implementation of best practices across the AGE-WELL network. When we started the OA-INVOLVE project, there was very little information about how AGE-WELL network members involve older people in their new development projects. Yet, one of the key principles of AGE-WELL is that older people's involvement be central to all projects. This is so that the problem of technology push doesn't create fantastic technologies that nobody wants or can use. BUT, it became pretty clear early on in the network formation that there were some very different ways that the notion of 'involvement' was conceptualized and operationalized. For some researchers, involvement meant collecting information about user needs or testing technologies with older people as participants to see how well they worked. For others, involvement was about creating an advisory group to talk about the principles of the research. Still others felt that involvement meant older people as decision makers within the project, or working alongside researchers as partners in the project (co-producers).
 
To find out how these different forms of involvement featured in AGE-WELL projects, we (the OA-INVOLVE team) conducted a survey of projects, support and governance structures. We are now able and excited to share with you some of the findings. Of the 39 projects, crosscutting themes, and governance structures involved in the survey (100% response!!), 36 either engaged or planned to engage older people. However, the majority of these were in the most basic participant category with relatively few projects treating older people as advisors and even less as co-producers. Seven projects indicated they were or would involve older people in all three roles. 
 
Maybe more impressive is the number of older people involved in AGE-WELL projects at the time of the survey (April-August 2016): 2086 in total. Of these, 82% were as participants, 11% as advisors and only 7% as co-producers. At the time of the survey, only 4 projects were following the co-producer model and a further 7 projects were planning to do this in the future. We have now produced a report of the survey results, which can be accessed through 'OUR RESEARCH'.
 
To measure the growth of older people's involvement in AGE-WELL, we are now launching the next survey. Hopefully, we will see not just a growth in the numbers of older people involved, but also see an expansion of older people involved across the life of the projects and in more active and decision making roles. Once we have this information, we can then evaluate how the more active involvement of older people impacts on successful commercialized AGE-WELL products, be they technologies, services or policies.
 
Please help us document the evolution of older adult involvement in the AGE-WELL network. Watch this space for the results of the next survey!
 
Authors: Judith Sixsmith and Susan Kirkland, Co-Leads OA-INVOLVE