Persuasive Strategies for Encouraging Social Interaction for Older Adults

Abstract

Social isolation among older adults represents a significant societal challenge in which persuasion offers a potential solution. To develop a persuasive interactive system for this purpose, we conducted a modeling study with carers to discover how persuasion is used to encourage social interaction among older adults. From an analysis of the results, we identified and defined effective persuasive strategies grounded in theories of persuasion and developed a computational model for applying them. This article reports the findings from an evaluation of the generalizability of this model and presents a revised version based on these results. The article concludes with a discussion on possible domain-specific conceptual features between the model evaluated and the revised model developed.

Notes

¹ For more details of research and investment regarding social isolation among older adults, please see Cacioppo and Cacioppo (2014); Economic & Social Committee (2009); European Commission (2008); Fratiglioni et al. (2000); Iredell, Grenade, Nedwetzky, Collins, and Howat (2004); Parigi and Henson (2014).

² As reported in Vargheese, Sripada, Masthoff, Oren, Schofield, et al. (2013), carers do not force older adults to participate but actively encourage those considered at risk of social isolation to participate in organized social activities using persuasive strategies.

³ A brief example of how carers use persuasion to reduce the risk of social isolation is provided in Section 1.2.

⁴ For more details on this study, please see Vargheese, Sripada, Masthoff, Oren, and Dennis (2013).

⁵ This information is acquired during the admission process and is used to provide a general background of an older adult's lifestyle preferences.

⁶ Persuasive strategies are listed in Table 2 and an example of a persuasion scenario is included in Section 1.2.

⁷ For more details, please see Vargheese et al. (2014).

⁸ Screenshots for each stage of the evaluation are included in Appendix A.

⁹ Profile attributes such as Friend present are in relation to the individual to be persuaded within the persuasion scenario.

¹⁰ See “Strategy category: Social proof” for more details on how the PAM in Figure 2 represents an expanded version of the PAM described in Vargheese, Sripada, Masthoff, Oren, Schofield, et al. (2013) by inclusion of individual strategies within the social proof category.

¹¹ See “Generalizability and perceived effectiveness of persuasive strategies” and Vargheese et al. (2014).

Additional information

Funding

This research is supported by the award made by the RCUK Digital Economy program to the dot.rural Digital Economy Hub; award reference: EP/G066051/1.

Notes on contributors

John Paul Vargheese

John Paul Vargheese is a research fellow in Computing Science at the University of Aberdeen. His primary research interests are within human–computer interaction, persuasive technology, user-centered intelligent healthcare interventions, and assistive living technology.

Somayajulu Sripada

Somayajulu Sripada is a senior lecturer at the University of Aberdeen. His primary research interests are in natural language generation, data mining, visual analytics, and in particular, on extending NLG models to design information presentations that combine information visualizations and natural language text.

Judith Masthoff

Judith Masthoff is a chair in Computing at the University of Aberdeen. Her primary research interests lie in the areas of personalization and user modeling, digital behavior interventions, intelligent user interfaces, affective computing, and e-Health.

Nir Oren

Nir Oren is a senior lecturer at the University of Aberdeen. His primary research interests lie in the areas of formal argumentation and dialogue, and in particular, on using argument to explain complex concepts to nontechnical users.