Page 33 - IJPS-10-2

International Journal of

Population Studies

RESEARCH ARTICLE
Light, activity, and sleep: Design and usability

evaluations of a web-based course supporting
changes to routines and the home

Kiran Maini Gerhardsson *, Steven Schmidt , and Susanne Iwarsson 1,3
1,2
1,2
1 Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
2 Applied Gerontology Research Group, Lund, Sweden
3 Active and Healthy Ageing Research Group, Lund, Sweden
(This article belongs to Special Issue: Active Ageing and Educational Gerontology)

Abstract

While research indicates that indoor lighting, exposure to daylight, physical activity,
and sleep interact to influence functioning, mood, and daily rhythm, strategies are
needed to support behavioral changes among older adults who often spend more
time at home after retirement. The objective was to design a web-based course to
encourage behavior change related to light, activity, and sleep. Grounded in the
information-motivation-behavioral skills model, the course aims to promote well-being
and improve lighting and darkness conditions at home. The technology acceptance
*Corresponding author: model was used as a framework for evaluating usability aspects of the course. Data
Kiran Maini Gerhardsson were collected through video observations, interviews, and questionnaires. Three
(kiran.maini_gerhardsson@med. experts on pedagogy, design for older adults, and/or interaction design were invited
lu.se)
to independently assess usability of the course content in a full-scale model of an
Citation: Gerhardsson, K.M., apartment. Six adults (age 70 – 79) participated in a similar usability evaluation
Schmidt, S., Iwarsson, S. (2024).
Light, activity, and sleep: Design in a second round in the apartment. A two-step usability evaluation by experts in
and usability evaluations of a the first round and target users in the second proved valuable. Findings enabled
web-based course supporting refinement of the course content and significantly reduced the number of identified
changes to routines and the home.
International Journal of Population usability issues in the second round. All six participants in the second round rated the
Studies, 10(2):27-43. overall user-friendliness as 6 out of 7. Changes to the content after the second round
https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.378 included, e.g., clarifying the different types of text links and considering issues with
Received: September 29, 2022 online enrolment in the course. The web-based course, supplemented with physical
meetings, can benefit late-life learners because of the relevant easy-to-use content.
Accepted: October 31, 2023
Published Online: December 15,
2023 Keywords: Older adults; Web-based course; Behavioral changes; Usability; Home
environment
Copyright: © 2023 Author(s).
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution
License, permitting distribution, 1. Introduction
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is
properly cited. 1.1. Background
Publisher’s Note: AccScience Older adults spend more time at home after retirement, and the home becomes a central
Publishing remains neutral with place for activity. Studies have shown that people spend an average of about 90% of their
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional time indoors (Brasche & Bischof, 2005; Hiller, 2015; Leech et al., 2002). However, there
affiliations. are variations between age groups. While people spend an average of 15.7 h/day (65%)

Volume 10 Issue 2 (2024) 27 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.378