According to a KTH study (Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm), older people’s involvement in technology matters, but it hasn’t reached its full potential.
Technology holds a huge potential to help improve the elderly’s life quality. However, there still are many barriers to technology adoption by older adults that hinder their involvement process and turn them into passive technology receivers.
Even though acceptance and adoption are often proclaimed as the ultimate goals when involving older people in technology projects, the study didn’t show any evidence that these elements represent an immediate appearance. On the other hand, it is now clear that the main goal of this involvement process is to gain a better understanding about older people’s need and tailor technology to reach the best compatibility level possible. Moreover, another interesting research output is that, despite involvement, not many of these technologies eventually find their way into the homes of older people.
All of these things are the result of a underappreciation about the complexities of involving older people in the designing and engineering process. It’s time to restructure the stereotypical perception about older people and involve then in a much more active way.
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