Challenging the assumption that medical conditions are the prime drivers of older people’s needs: a qualitative baseline study about the experienced needs of older people who age in place with COPD

BACKGROUND: In the hope of decreasing the likelihood that older people will reject technologies that are meant to enable them to age in place, the involvement of older people in the development process has become common. Meanwhile, the literature on methods for involving older people is still emerging, and so far, there is no common knowledge base that studies which involve older people in technology design refers to. Yet, it is possible to identify patterned practices, such as the practice of recruiting older people based on their medical condition. This practice assumes that medical conditions are prime drivers for older people's needs, and that recruiting older people with the same medical condition will therefore lead to the discovery of homogenous needs for technology, thus decreasing the risk of rejection. The aim of this study is to describe the experienced needs of older people who have been diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and age in place in Norway at baseline in an ongoing project. METHODS: In this qualitative interview study we conducted 10 baseline interviews with older adults (65+) with COPD who are ageing in place. While these older people were recruited into the study based on their diagnosis, the interviews encouraged the informants to also describe other challenges and needs that they deal with in the context of their everyday lives. RESULTS: The results illustrate that Norwegian older people with COPD do share some common challenges related to their medical condition. Most of the problems that they are dealing with, and consider important to solve, have more to do with general problems related to the everyday experience of ageing in a rural community in Norway than with their medical condition. CONCLUSIONS: The article contributes to the methodological literature on involving older people in the development of technology for ageing in place by challenging the assumption that medical conditions are prime drivers of older people's needs. It illustrates how this assumption may point technology developers in the wrong direction unless it is supplemented by a strong focus on the everyday experience of ageing.