An international think tank has published Ageing Well with Person-Centered Technology, a report that examines how technology — and a new mindset — can improve the lives of older adults.
The think tank was coordinated by the Association for the Advancement of Assistive Technology in Europe (AAATE), with support from the Global Alliance of Assistive Technology Organizations (GAATO) and Scaling European Citizen Driven Transferable and Transformative Digital Health (SEURO).
The International Society of Wheelchair Professionals (ISWP) was among the organizations collaborating on the report.
“A group of experts in aging, technology and care joined forces in an international think tank,” AAATE said in the report’s abstract. “They discussed the factors that impact the adoption or non-adoption of technology-enabled, person-centered solutions by older adults and their care and support providers. They further discussed a number of studies and good practices and summarized their findings in this report, which is completed with recommendations for policymakers, health and social care service providers, researchers, technology developers, and organizations representing older adults.”
Think tank participants gathered information from experts around the world and shared their findings via case examples within the report.
For Belgium, as an example, Cora van Leeuwen discussed a digital aging project that studied how ageism impacts consumers’ digital experiences. van Leeuwen reported that ageism affected the adoption of technology by causing “the under-representation of older adults in the design phase of technology, in exclusion of heterogenous data of old age, and in a lack of consideration of older adults as potential users.” van Leeuwen added that ageism led creators of technology to “focus on young users as the ‘ideal’ users.”
In Italy, Valentina Fiordelmondo reported on AIAS Bologna, an organization that supports people with disabilities and older adults, and its “format of community-based informal learning about technology.” AIAS Bologna’s “digital sofas,” offered in community sites such as libraries, bring together seniors who “learn by doing and exchange experiences with smartphones and apps, tablet PCs, health parameter monitoring devices, activity trackers, GPS navigation apps, etc. Those with the highest interest join the Silver Club, where they participate in co-design projects and peer-learning events.”
The report also lists recommendations developed from think tank meetings. In the policy section, for example, the report said, “There’s a need for a cultural shift that embraces older adults — older adults are not a burden to society — and embraces a ‘social model of aging’ (older adults are disabled by the environment). Older adults’ needs and inclusion should therefore be a cross-cutting priority across all sectors, rather than a separate policy area.”
“We’re pleased to share the newly released report from the AAATE/GAATO think tank on aging and technology, an important global initiative exploring how technology can better support aging populations,” the ISWP said in a June 18 social media post. “We encourage everyone to explore the recommendations from page 37 onward, which outline practical steps for advancing inclusive, age-friendly technologies.”
