Understanding the Thoughts and Preferences for Technologies Designed to Detect Feelings of Loneliness: Interview Study Among Older Adults

Background: Loneliness is a negative emotional state that is common in later life. The accumulative effects of loneliness have a significant impact on the physical and mental health of older adults. Automatic methods for detection and prediction are an emerging field to support early identification of loneliness.

Objective: This study aimed to qualitatively explore the thoughts and preferences of people aged 65 years and older regarding technologies to detect feelings of loneliness in later life.

Methods: We conducted 60 semistructured interviews with people aged 65 years and older between September 2022 and August 2023. Data were analyzed using a reflective thematic approach on NVivo software (Lumivero).

Results: In total, three themes were identified representing what older adults considered important in a system able to detect loneliness: (1) interest and control of data, which was a priority for older adults; (2) perceived usefulness to address loneliness, which related to the importance of providing recommendations to reduce feelings of loneliness after detection; and (3) personalization as a priority, which included the level of loneliness for which an alert was sent and selection of relevant individuals who would be sent a loneliness alert.

Conclusions: Findings from this in-depth qualitative study provide important perspectives from people with lived experience of loneliness on the context in which a sensor-based loneliness detection system would be most useful and acceptable to older adults. Future research will include such perspectives in the design of innovative technologies enabling the early detection of loneliness and access to timely interventions to tackle loneliness in later life.