Ingleside Partners with Indiana University to Enhance Resident Accessibility to Tech
While the idea of colleges and universities paired with senior living communities may appear to be a dichotomy to many, research has shown that both older adults and young individuals can benefit from intergenerational exchanges and relationships.
Across Ingleside’s three communities – whether through internships or volunteer support– the interactions between students and residents have proven to be rich and rewarding, offering opportunities for enhanced wellness, sharing of resources, and mutually beneficial collaboration between the sectors.
Since 2018, Ingleside has maintained a student internship and fellowship program with Indiana University’s Human-Computer Interaction Department at the School of Informatics. Through this 12 to 16-week program, students like Radhika Bezawada, a UX Research and Design Fellow at Ingleside, have the opportunity to spend the semester gaining hands-on experience and a holistic introduction to the world of senior living.
“I am incredibly grateful for this learning experience at Ingleside,” Radhika shared. “Not only have I gained invaluable lessons outside of the classroom in exchange for course credit, but I am provided the opportunity to help solve problems that will in-turn help others.”
Spearheaded by Liz Keller, Resident Technology Engagement Manager at Ingleside, the internship program offers students the chance to review technologies used by residents, such as the nurse call system, resident portal, dining portal, CARF Accessibility Program, and resident payment portal, while addressing the challenges seniors face with understanding how to use the technologies in their day-to-day lives. After spending months conducting in-depth research, interns learn how to apply general principles of UX/UI in a way that caters to the needs of senior living residents.
From Insight to Implementation: The Ingleside Approach
Ingleside has long been recognized for its dedication to enhancing the lives of its residents through one of its core values, innovation. Recently, this commitment was showcased and received accolades from industry professionals at the 2024 McKnights Tech Awards. Through a successful collaboration with their Point of Sale provider, FullCount, Ingleside leveraged its partnership with Indiana University to improve the usability of the Dining Portal, where residents access account information, order food, reserve spots in the dining room and more.
The project, led by Liz and student fellow Radhika, brought significant usability enhancements for residents. The two conducted research and listened to resident and staff feedback, relayed their suggestions to FullCount, who then took the suggestions and implemented changes into the Dining Portal, greatly boosting resident satisfaction.
The collaboration began when Ingleside’s Chief Information Officer, Dusanka saw an opportunity for the two worlds to collide when trying to connect Alexa to Ingleside’s senior portal. Her daughter, a master-level student at Indiana University was studying the intricacies of technology and user experience and inspired Dusanka to seek out further information.
”I was curious to know more about how to improve the user experience for our residents and asked my daughter’s professor for advice on what needs to be done from a UX perspective,” Dusanka shared. They later published a paper “Alexa is a Toy”: Exploring Older Adults’ Reasons for Using, Limiting, and Abandoning Echo, which disclosed several insights on intelligent voice assistants, their challenges and use cases within senior living.
The project ignited the start of the internship program with Indiana University’s graduate students, led by Liz who oversees student intern onboarding and provides one-on-one counsel, professional development and mentorship for student participants.
“We have been so lucky to have Liz Keller,” Dusanka shared. “She has been instrumental in guiding and mentoring these interns all these years. I am sure she is one of the reasons our interns have been very successful at Ingleside. Many go off to translate the skills they’ve learned at Ingleside in their respective post-graduate careers and they later recommend the internship program to their peers.”
Ingleside and its communities have continued to embrace innovative ways to improve the quality of care and services for residents through advanced technology. “Through this partnership with Indiana University, we hope to continue exposing students to the unique world of senior living,” Liz shared. “We’re proud of the results our interns have helped us achieve and look forward to further improving the accessibility and usability of applications used by our residents and staff.”
For more information on Ingleside communities, visit inglesideonline.org.