The Importance of Trust in the Adoption and Use of Intelligent Assistive Technology by Older Adults to Support Aging in Place: Scoping Review Protocol

Background: Intelligent assistive technologies that complement and extend human abilities have proliferated in recent years. Service robots, home automation equipment, and other digital assistant devices possessing artificial intelligence are forms of assistive technologies that have become popular in society. Older adults (>55 years of age) have been identified by industry, government, and researchers as a demographic who can benefit significantly from the use of intelligent assistive technology to support various activities of daily living. Objective: The purpose of this scoping review is to summarize the literature on the importance of the concept of “trust” in the adoption of intelligent assistive technologies to assist aging in place by older adults. Methods: Using a scoping review methodology, our search strategy will examine the following databases: ACM Digital Library, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Medline, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science. Two reviewers will independently screen the initial titles obtained from the search, and these results will be further inspected by other members of the research team for inclusion in the review. Results: This review will provide insights into how the concept of trust is actualized in the adoption of intelligent assistive technology by older adults. Preliminary sensitization to the literature suggests that the concept of trust is fluid, unstable, and intimately tied to the type of intelligent assistive technology being examined. Furthermore, a wide range of theoretical lenses that include elements of trust have been used to examine this concept. Conclusions: This review will describe the concept of trust in the adoption of intelligent assistive technology by older adults, and will provide insights for practitioners, policy makers, and technology vendors for future practice. [JMIR Res Protoc 2017;6(11):e218]