Advancing the Aging and Technology Agenda in Gerontology

Abstract

Interest in technology for older adults is driven by multiple converging trends: the rapid pace of technological development; the unprecedented growth of the aging population in the United States and worldwide; the increase in the number and survival of persons with disability; the growing and unsustainable costs of caring for the elderly people; and the increasing interest on the part of business, industry, and government agencies in addressing health care needs with technology. These trends have contributed to the strong conviction that technology can play an important role in enhancing quality of life and independence of older individuals with high levels of efficiency, potentially reducing individual and societal costs of caring for the elderly people. The purpose of this "Forum" position article is to integrate what we know about older adults and technology systems in order to provide direction to this vital enterprise. We define what we mean by technology for an aging population, provide a brief history of its development, introduce a taxonomy for characterizing current technology applications to older adults, summarize research in this area, describe existing development and evaluation processes, identify factors important for the acceptance of technology among older individuals, and recommend future directions for research in this area.

Supporting Optimal Aging through the Innovative Use of Virtual Reality Technology

“…Future research, then, might focus on how to make VR technology more useable, flexible, and attractive to serve a variety of older users. Schulz et al [21] raise an important caveat to this approach, however, in reminding those working in gerontology and related fields not to underestimate the importance of leveraging interdisciplinary work to drive technology development. It is not enough to use a primarily biomedical research model to assess the efficacy of an intervention, but rather, questions relating to uptake, adoption, and abandonment of technologies are equally important, alongside a better understanding of how to prevent the undermining of motivation and autonomy by using technology [21].…”

“…Schulz et al [21] raise an important caveat to this approach, however, in reminding those working in gerontology and related fields not to underestimate the importance of leveraging interdisciplinary work to drive technology development. It is not enough to use a primarily biomedical research model to assess the efficacy of an intervention, but rather, questions relating to uptake, adoption, and abandonment of technologies are equally important, alongside a better understanding of how to prevent the undermining of motivation and autonomy by using technology [21]. Little research on technology and older adults "closes the loop" in this way, and as these technologies become more integrated into our lives, this question will surely grow in importance and relevance for developers and users alike.…”

Older People, Mobile Communication and Risks

“…As for the public discourses fostered by the European Union, (future) good "old age" should include smart homes that facilitate aging in place. Thus, the Internet of Things (IoT) becomes the necessary infrastructure and society will rely on permanent connectivity in search of an enhanced quality of life-among others, see [1,2]. Mobile telephony is the current basic technology that enables the IoT and, therefore, approaches to aging digital futures should include this particular technology.…”

Medical and Para-Medical Personnel’ Perspectives on Home Health Care Technology

“…Effectively, even though its early work since 1980 [18], this sector is still far from defining a unique identity and well established practices. Thus, the obvious consequence is a lack of agreed proof of concepts among the diverse scientific approaches that creates diverse fragmentary concepts on aging and technology.…”