Assistive Technology and Older People

After spending this semester discussing how different types of technology effect elderlies and their aging process, I am going to spend this last blog discussing future concerns and measures about technology. Being in this current technology savvy era, the rates of assistive technology in homes will increase and become more prevalent. One of the main priorities that researchers need to focus on is how to make assistive technology more affordable during a time in which the economy is slow and technology is needed more frequently. According to an article called "Designing technology with older people," the authors discuss how we need to focus on including the needs of older people when designing future technology, because by the year 2020 older people will take up the largest portion of our population (2007). No longer should we follow the research strategies that we implement on younger groups of people such as generalizing and assuming characteristic traits. Instead, researchers need to also implement detailed studies into individual's lives, needs and behaviors in order to find out more information about differing norms in different groups. This way we will be able to avoid neglecting certain groups that may have what is considered rare behavior or different from the society norms. Both in the "Designing technology with older people" and "Older adults' needs for assistance as a function of living environment" articles, discuss the importance of designing technology to be human-centered and ensuring that there is actual physical human participation even with the heavy use of assistive technology in homes today.  Another major concern that is raised in "Quality of life technology for older adults and persons with disabilities: preferences and concerns for development" that researchers have raised also was the level of privacy that should still be maintained in the lives of older adults (2008). With the heavy use of assistive technology comes the need to constantly monitor the changes and personal behaviors of these older adults, some people have raised concerns that this can serve as an invasion of privacy that they do not wish to have occur. However, I believe this is a concern that elderlies will learn to come to terms with, because it is a necessity in doing proper research for the future.

Resources


Dewsbury, G., Rouncefield, M., Sommerville, I., Onditi, V., & Bagnall, P. (2007). Designing technology with older people [Electronic version]. Universal Access in the Information Society, 6(2), 207-217. Retrieved on 21 April 2012 from SpringerLink database.

Matthews, J., Beach, S., Downs, J., Bruine de Bruin, W., Mecca, L., Argueta, J., & Schulz, R. (2008). Quality of life technology for older adults and persons with disabilities: preferences and concerns for development [Electronic version]. The Gerontologist, 48, 188. Retrieved on 21 April 2012 from ProQuest database.

Mitzner, T., Kemp, C., Chen, T., & Rogers, W. (2011). Older adults' needs for assistance as a function of living environment [Electronic version]. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 55(1), 152-156. Retrieved on 21 April 2012 from SAGE Journals database.