“A co-designed tech club for older adults living with dementia and their care partners” Blog by: Karl Kinanen Undergraduate Award Recipient, Kyla Kovalik

During the post-COVID recovery period, the digital divide was found to be impacting older adults living with dementia and their care partners. Older adults living with dementia and their care partners want to learn new technology skills to increase their confidence and feel empowered.

As such, I am grateful to be the recipient of the 2024 Karl Kinanen Undergraduate Student Research Scholarship. This scholarship has led to the opportunity to work as a research assistant with Dr. Anthea Innes and Dr. Constance Dupuis on a research project known as “A co-designed tech club for older adults living with dementia and their care partners.” This project was created to enable older adults living with dementia and their care partners to participate in a co-designed tech club to promote social connection using different technologies.

The start of the co-design process involved two workshops in June and July of 2024 to bring together various people living with dementia, care partners, and community members to begin planning a tech club for older adults living with dementia. Social connection and technology were the focuses that helped participants think about co-designing a tech club. During both sessions, similar needs arose when participants thought about ways to socially connect older adults living with dementia. For instance, participants in each co-design group noted interest in iPads, games, and social platforms like WhatsApp and FaceTime. The importance of games and having fun with a balance of working through activities were mentioned by participants of the co-design workshops. Using technologies and enjoying various activities and games will ultimately help with social connection for older adults living with dementia and their care partners. Whether the social connection happens with their care partners, family members, friends, or grandchildren, it is an important element in later life and technology can act as a method to promote social connection.

After the co-design workshop sessions, the initial draft of the 8-week program with Burlington Public Library was created. It incorporates social activities that involve using iPads, tablets, the Wii, and the Switch, among other technologies. All of these will help promote social connection in older adults living with dementia and their care partners. The initial draft was sent to the Burlington Public Library team and the co-design workshop participants to incorporate their feedback. From the feedback, the sessions were revised to allow for 8 tech club sessions that participants of the co-design workshop were happy with.

With support from the Karl Kinanen Student Research Scholarship, I have developed numerous skills, and will continue to grow alongside a research team with extensive experience researching and publishing scholarly papers. At the start of the project, I learned about the ethics process and contributed to an ethics application. I helped with participant observation and note-taking for two co-design sessions for the project and contributed to planning the initial draft of the 8-week program we will be starting with Burlington Public Library in the Fall. I am appreciative of the opportunity to continue helping this project unfold. It is allowing me to grow as a researcher and make a difference in the lives of older adults living with dementia and their care partners.

I would like to extend my gratitude to the Kinanen family for their generosity in funding research that improves the lives of older adults. I also want to thank the Gilbrea Centre for Studies in Aging for granting me this scholarship. I would like to thank my research team including Dr. Anthea Innes, Dr. Constance Dupuis, Ms. Equity Burke, Ms. Mason McLeod, and Ms. Umniyah Gilani. Finally, thank you to our partners,  Burlington Public Library, for their facilitation support and for the excellent location to conduct our project. It is a privilege to work alongside Burlington Public Library to work toward a common goal of supporting older adults living with dementia and their care partners. I am looking forward to continuing my studies at McMaster University while working with and learning from my esteemed colleagues.