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Algorithmic technologies and (large) data infrastructures, often referred to as Artificial Intelligence (AI), have received increasing attention from gerontological research in the last decade. Although there is much literature that dissects and explores the development, application, and evaluation of AI relevant to gerontology, this study makes a novel contribution by critically engaging with the theorizing in this growing field of research. We observe that gerontology's engagement with AI is shaped by an interventionist logic that situates AI as a black box for gerontological research. We demonstrate how this black box logic has neglected many aspects of AI as a research topic for gerontology and discuss three classical concepts in gerontology to show how they can be used to open various black boxes of aging and AI in the areas: (a) the datafication of aging, (b) the political economy of AI and aging, and (c) everyday engagements and embodiments of AI in later life. In the final chapter, we propose a model of the co-constitution of aging and AI that makes theoretical propositions to study the relational terrain between aging and AI and hence aims to open the black box of AI in gerontology beyond interventionist logic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the datafication of ageing by drawing on a practice approach toward care. We describe the datafication of ageing as a matter of care, achieved through the local tinkering of actors – technology designers, care staff, older adults, and highlighting the practices necessary to develop, maintain and implement data infrastructures. This paper draws on research conducted in a qualitative interview study in a LTC facility that uses AI-supported sensors to detect, predict and alarm care staff about falls of older residents. 18 interviews with developers, staff, residents and interest groups were conducted, as well as 24 h of participant observation in the care facility. The results reveal how AI-development for older target groups is characterized by absent data on these populations. Designers turn to practices that decontextualize data from the realities of older adults, relying on domain experts or synthetic data. This decontextualization of data requires recontextualization, with staff and older residents ensuring that the system functions smoothly, adapting their behavior, protecting the system from making false decisions and making existing care arrangements 'fit' the databases used to monitor activities in these arrangements. The ambivalent position of older adults in this data assemblage is further highlighted, as their caring practices are made invisible by different actors through ageist stereotypes, positioning them as being too frail to understand and engage with the system. While their bodily behavior is core for the databases, their perspective on and engagements with the operating system are marginalized, rendering some aspects of ageing hyper-visible, and others invisible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This pilot study examined the feasibility, safety, and effects of a Nintendo Ring Fit Adventure™‐based exercise program to enhance balance and lower limb muscle strength in community‐dwelling older adults with a history of falls. Methods: In total, 42 older adults who experienced at least one fall in the past year were randomly assigned to an experimental or control group. Participants in the experimental group performed 60‐min sessions of the exercise program twice per week for 8 weeks. The control group received usual care. We assessed the feasibility (retention and adherence to the exercise program), safety (number of adverse events), and clinical outcomes: (1) balance (Mini‐BESTest); (2) functional lower limb muscle strength (Five‐Time Sit‐to‐Stand test); (3) mobility (Timed‐Up and Go test); (4) dual‐task ability (Timed‐Up and Go test – Dual Task); (5) fear of falling (Icon‐FES); and (6) executive function (Color Trails Test). Results: Thirty‐one participants (74%) completed the 8‐week assessment. No adverse event associated with the exercise program was reported. There was a significant interaction in the anticipatory domain score of the Mini‐BESTest between the experimental and control groups over the 8 weeks (P = 0.019). Conclusions: The Nintendo Ring Fit Adventure™‐based exercise program was feasible, safe, and potentially effective in improving anticipatory balance in community‐dwelling older fallers. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2024; 24: 334–341. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aging global population poses significant medical and social challenges, necessitating efforts to promote healthy aging. Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) is a multidimensional diagnostic approach for older adults that aims to improve overall health. Remote CGA, facilitated by technological advancements, offers convenience and other potential advantages. It enables early disease detection, monitors chronic disease progression, delivers personalized care, and optimizes healthcare resources for better health outcomes in older individuals. However, remote CGA also has limitations, including technological requirements, data security, and the need for comprehensive evaluation and simplicity. Collaborative efforts are essential to developing a digital home‐based CGA platform that addresses accessibility issues and tailors the assessment process to meet the needs of older adults. Continuous optimization of remote CGA can become a pivotal tool for advancing geriatric care and ensuring the well‐being of the aging population. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2024; 24: 67–73. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Backgroud: Discharge planning from the hospital of frail older patients is an important step to avoid inappropriate long‐stay hospitalizations and to prevent the risks related to the prolonged hospitalization. In this frame, we developed an experimental trial—'PRO‐HOME', a multicomponent programme of interventions for multimorbid and polytreated hospitalized older patients. Aim: The main aim of the study was to develop a protected discharge facility using a mini apartment equipped with advanced architectural and technological components to reduce the length of hospital stay of older participants (aged 65+ years old) admitted to the hospital for an acute event, deemed stable and dischargeable. Materials and Methods: This is a pilot randomized controlled study, comparing 30 hospitalized participants included in a multidimensional, transitional care programme based on information and communication technologies to 30 patients in standard usual care until hospital discharge. Results: We presented the study design of the PRO‐HOME programme, including architectural and technological components, the enrolment procedures, the components of the intervention that is physical activity, cognitive training and life‐style education and the evaluation method of the intervention based on the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment to explore the changes in the individual domains that are target of the multicomponent intervention. Conclusions: The final results will suggest whether the PRO‐HOME programme represents a useful and feasible intervention to reduce the length of hospital stay of multimorbid and polytreated hospitalized older patients and improve their physical and cognitive performances and overall quality of life. Patient or Public Contribution: Due to the characteristics of the population of interest of the PRO‐HOME study, we involved in the study design and programme of the activities the participants enrolled in a previous smart home‐based project named MoDiPro carried‐out during a 3‐year period. The elderly participants from the local population involved were asked, by means of focus groups, for feedback on their experience in MoDiPro, and their suggestions were integrated into the design phase of the current PRO‐HOME project. The focus groups included open group interviews with a qualitative collection of the patients' feedback so that the participants could interact with each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development is a perspective on economic progress that takes into account the equilibrium among social, economic, and environmental elements. This implies that endeavours aimed at development should guarantee the satisfaction of present generations' requirements while safeguarding the capacity of future generations to fulfil their own necessities. In the context of an aging society, sustainable development involves providing solutions, services, and technologies that address the needs of older people while also minimizing negative impacts on the environment and future generations. The aim of this article is to identify, analyse and evaluate technologies that improve the quality of life of older people without compromising the well-being of future generations from ecological, social, ethical and other perspectives. Technologies that enhance the quality of life for older people are often referred to as gerontechnologies in the literature. The article identifies and then selects 3 gerontechnologies that can improve the quality of life of older people while remaining sustainable. Further, 42 criteria for evaluating gerontechnologies were identified. These gerontechnologies were then evaluated by potential users. A ranking of gerontechnologies was further developed. CAWI and CATI methods were used in the survey. The SAW method was used to build the ranking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the unprecedented growth of the aging population has posed lots of challenges to society. Gerontechnology, combining gerontology with technology, could be a way to turn this challenge into an opportunity. As older adults always evidence a lower-level technology usage compared with younger people, studies on technology acceptance and adoption for older adults have significant research value. Although this topic has been widely studied, most of them focus on the design of products' physical features and the interaction between older adults and technology, its related services are rarely discussed. To bridge the gap, this study aims to capture older adults' gerontechnology acceptance and usage conditions and increase the knowledge of gerontechnology servitization for older adults. A face-to-face interview-based survey questionnaire was purposely designed for collecting data related to older adults' technology experience, technology acceptance factors, and their views on services. Older adults aged 55–75 years old in Hong Kong participated in this survey. The study shows the pitfall of a lack of supportive services of gerontechnology, especially during initial use, and highlights the potential for comprehensive design that integrates products and services into a system facilitating older adults' technology acceptance and adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Older care is a significant issue that should be approached from a rights-based perspective, requiring human resources and financial investment. With the aging population, the topic of older care is gaining more prominence, raising questions about who will take on the care responsibilities, where and under what conditions it will be provided, the quality of care, the training of caregivers, and financing. Traditional care services sometimes struggle to provide answers to these questions. At this point, can the use of new technologies and/or artificial intelligence technologies be complementary to traditional care services? Can new technologies or integrated artificial intelligence technologies offer alternative solutions to the crises in this field? These questions may come to the forefront. The present study aims to discuss these questions within the framework of the film "Robot & Frank," a science fiction film. In line with this goal, the qualitative research method of content analysis is employed to examine the science fiction film "Robot & Frank." The film is analyzed in terms of older care, the role of artificial intelligence technology in care, themes such as forgetfulness, social isolation, family relationships, and ethical issues. Within the framework of all these themes, the film is evaluated with a focus on the relationship between the caregiver, the care recipient, and the family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dysphagia is a common geriatric syndrome that might induce serious complications and death. Standard diagnostics using the Videofluoroscopic Swallowing Study (VFSS) or Fiberoptic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) are expensive and expose patients to risks, while bedside screening is subjective and might lack reliability. An affordable and accessible instrumented screening is necessary. This study aimed to evaluate the classification performance of Transformer models and convolutional networks in identifying swallowing and non-swallowing tasks through depth video data. Different activation functions (ReLU, LeakyReLU, GELU, ELU, SiLU, and GLU) were then evaluated on the best-performing model. Sixty-five healthy participants (n = 65) were invited to perform swallowing (eating a cracker and drinking water) and non-swallowing tasks (a deep breath and pronouncing vowels: "/eɪ/", "/iː/", "/aɪ/", "/oʊ/", "/u:/"). Swallowing and non-swallowing were classified by Transformer models (TimeSFormer, Video Vision Transformer (ViViT)), and convolutional neural networks (SlowFast, X3D, and R(2+1)D), respectively. In general, convolutional neural networks outperformed the Transformer models. X3D was the best model with good-to-excellent performance (F1-score: 0.920; adjusted F1-score: 0.885) in classifying swallowing and non-swallowing conditions. Moreover, X3D with its default activation function (ReLU) produced the best results, although LeakyReLU performed better in deep breathing and pronouncing "/aɪ/" tasks. Future studies shall consider collecting more data for pretraining and developing a hyperparameter tuning strategy for activation functions and the high dimensionality video data for Transformer models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The independence of the individual plays an important role in ensuring aging in place. By providing accessibility and freedom of movement, technology reduces external dependency in the fulfillment of daily life activities. Gerontechnology has emerged in this context and is trying to develop solutions to the loss of abilities due to aging through technology. Thanks to Gerontechnology, it is easier to live independently of the years involved in life. Thus, it is ensured that the elderly live in their own homes as long as possible, and the elderly care costs are reduced by delaying the demand for institution-based care services. In this study, the effect of technology use on aging in situ was evaluated and inferences were made on the subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Having access and skills to use social technology, i.e. social internet use, social media and social applications, are considered as being vital to online social connection. Whilst evidence exists around facilitators and barriers to general technology use, evidence is limited with regards to the motivators, skills and tangible offline benefits older technology users experience with social technology. Therefore, this study used a qualitative, exploratory method to understand older adults' experiences of using social technology to connect with others. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 older adults (65+ years) across England, Scotland and Wales. Despite having access to social technology for social connection, and using this technology regularly, multiple barriers impacted motivators and skills for use, namely perceived self-efficacy and fear, the culture of online communication, absence of social capital and physical functioning. Some of these barriers of social technology use are reminiscent of barriers of wider technology use and emphasise the importance of addressing these barriers for digital exclusion, as well as social connection. However, some of these barriers were specific to social technology use and should be considered when providing guidance or interventions to increase older adults' online social connection. Social connection was a clear tangible outcome to social technology use, and individuals discussed the benefits of using social technology, particularly visual communication tools, for online connection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technological innovations changed people's daily lives. Wireless technologies, such as mobile phones and other portable gadgets, are becoming an essential part of each generation. With the increasing size of the elderly population around the world, opportunities for the older generation to use wireless technologies, such as gerontechnologies, are increasing. Older adults can use mobile health (mHealth) to receive healthcare at their doorstep. This study uses the UTAUT theoretical framework, extended to perceived ubiquity (PU), perceived trust (PT), and technology anxiety (TA), to investigate the elderly's intention to adopt mobile phone technology for healthcare (i.e., mHealth) in the socioeconomic environment of Pakistan. This study surveys 286 respondents from Islamabad, Pakistan. Structural equation modeling (SPSS version 25 and AMOS version 24) is used to analyze the data. Outcomes show that performance expectancy (PE), effort expectancy, social influence (SI), facilitating conditions, PU, and PT have a positive significant relationship with mHealth adoption intention (AI). However, the results do not indicate the negative relation of TA with mHealth AI. Moreover, gender significantly moderates the relationship between PE and SI and mHealth AI. This study contributes comprehensive knowledge to the existing literature on gerontechnology adoption in the socioeconomic context of a developing economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a subsequent increase in the number of elderly people living alone, with contribution from advancement in medicine and technology. However, hospitals and nursing homes are crowded, expensive, and uncomfortable, while personal caretakers are expensive and few in number. Home monitoring technologies are therefore on the rise. In this study, we propose an anonymous elderly monitoring system to track potential risks in everyday activities such as sleep, medication, shower, and food intake using a smartphone application. We design and implement an activity visualization and notification strategy method to identify risks easily and quickly. For evaluation, we added risky situations in an activity dataset from a real-life experiment with the elderly and conducted a user study using the proposed method and two other methods varying in visualization and notification techniques. With our proposed method, 75.2% of the risks were successfully identified, while 68.5% and 65.8% were identified with other methods. The average time taken to respond to notification was 176.46 min with the proposed method, compared to 201.42 and 176.9 min with other methods. Moreover, the interface analyzing and reporting time was also lower (28 s) in the proposed method compared to 38 and 54 s in other methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study challenges the notion that people living with dementia are unable to achieve novel learning without focussed intervention techniques. The purpose of this study is to explore how a woman living with dementia (Alzheimer's disease) learns to use a tablet computer with support from communicative partners. The study is based on video recordings and the theoretical framework of learning as changing participation in joint activities. Quantitative and qualitative focus is on changes in the interactional organization over the course of six weeks in the activity of using an augmentative and alternative communication application. Over time, the participant living with dementia, relies less on the expertise and explicit instructions of her communicative partners when navigating the application, and more on the immediate feedback provided by the tablet computer. The findings suggest that novel learning still is possible for people living with dementia, even without the implementation of focussed interventions. This study further emphasizes the procedural nature of learning for people living with dementia as the woman's embodied actions were carried out in an increasingly more direct fashion. For people living with dementia, learning in everyday activities is facilitated by repeated exposure to the activity and the scaffolding practices of a more experienced communicative partner. In instances of novel learning, one should not underestimate the importance of embodied engagement from people living dementia. Care professionals need not to worry about exposing people living with dementia to unfamiliar activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim was to explore the association between internet use, the use of specific internet-based activities and perceiving life as meaningful, among older adults in two regions in Finland and Sweden. Methods: The data was collected through a population-based survey (N = 9386) as part of the GERDA project conducted in 2016. In order to analyse the associations between perceiving life as meaningful and internet use and related activities, odds ratios with a 95% confidence interval were calculated using binary logistic regression analysis, where socio-demographic factors and health status were controlled for. Results: Statistically significant associations were found between perceiving life as meaningful and internet use in later life. When looking further at the specific internet-based activities under study, activities related to leisure and entertainment showed a statistically significant connection to perceived meaningfulness in later life, after controlling for socio-demographic factors and health status. Conclusions: The results indicated that there was a statistically significant positive association between internet use and perceiving life as meaningful in later life. Online activities related to leisure and entertainment seem to be especially associated with perceived meaningfulness. Although causal direction could not be determined, the results suggest that internet use may support the experience of wellbeing in everyday life among older persons, through the unlimited access to interest-driven activities that it provides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earlier studies show that experiencing life as meaningful in old age promotes holistic wellbeing and health among older people. As more and more people are living with reduced capacities in their own homes, there is an urgent need to find new ways of promoting holistic wellbeing of the ageing population. Analysing data gathered from existential discussion groups on Service TV (STV), we show how strongly relationality and meaning in life are intertwined for older people. Our findings indicate that respect and support for the autonomy of older people is very important: in order to continue living at home, and prepare for a future with reduced capacities, they need family members for support. Autonomy of ageing becomes relational as choices and wishes are negotiated with family members. Relationships also contribute to loss of meaning. When older people felt that they were not close enough to their family, longed for friends of the same age, were bereaved or widowed, the relational gap caused a violation of meaning. In contrast, participation and activities with peers brought deep joy and connectedness to the lives of the participants. STV provided a new channel for participants to find and form meaningful relationships. Therefore, it is concluded that relationality can be supported by technological means of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While numerous studies have examined the importance of technology innovation in supporting the aging society, few have been specifically conducted on the emerging technologies that forecast for the elderly. Moreover, existing related research lacks consideration of public users' demands, and the forecasting results have not been linked with the actual technology supply in the market, which may easily lead to waste of resources and deviation of R&D focus. Given that, we present a novel method to forecast and evaluate emerging technologies based on technology supply and demand (S&D) matching. In the case study of China's gerontechnology, we first systematically excavate the elderly's demands and match them with the emerging gerontechnologies. Then, we analyse technology supply to filter out S&D oversaturated technologies and screen out S&D undersaturated results by the text semantic mining and similarity matching. Among the results, 27.68% do not have an effective supply yet, 33.04% have saturated or oversaturated. Besides, we use the TRIZ theory to filtrate key emerging areas and find the evolution path, and six significant evolutionary trends are extracted. This paper will help decision makers to accurately target the most promising emerging technologies. Highlights A framework to forecast emerging technology based on supply and demand match. Considering aging population in the technology forecasting and foresight. Monitoring emerging technology trends by using social user's demands analysis. 75 emerging technologies and 6 evolution trends of China's gerontechnology. Filter out 33.04% supply saturated and oversaturated of forecasted results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Technology based interventions can enhance resource access. • Best practices are needed to guide implementation of technology interventions. • Trainings and support need to consider diverse levels of user proficiency. Technology-based interventions present a promising approach to support health and wellness for older adults with a range of cognitive abilities. Technology can enhance access to interventions and support scaling of programs to reach more people. However, the use of technology for intervention delivery requires particular attention to users' needs and preferences and ensuring the materials are adaptable and supportive of a diverse range of technology proficiency levels. We share best practices based on lessons learned from the deployment of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) wherein we delivered an 8-week social engagement intervention through a video technology platform called OneClick for older adults with varying cognitive abilities. We developed a set of best practices and guidelines informed by the lessons learned through this RCT implementation. Technology-based interventions require attention to the application (e.g., video calls), system requirements (e.g., system memory, broadband internet), training (e.g., adaptability based on user competency), and support (e.g., handouts, live contact). These best practices relate to user needs; training design; personnel responsibility; structuring delivery and content; and evaluating success. These research-based best practices can guide the design, development, and implementation of technology-based interventions to support older adults with varying cognitive abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gerontechnologies are increasingly used in the care for older people. Many studies on their acceptability and ethical implications are conducted, but mainly from the perspective of principlism. This narrows our ethical gaze on the implications the use of these technologies have.How do participants speak about the impact that gerontechnologies have on the different phases of care, and care as a process? What are the moral implications from an ethic of care perspective?Secondary analysis of semi-structure interviews, whose segments on specific technologies were analysed through reflexive thematic analysis.Sixty-seven Swiss stakeholders involved in the use of gerontechnologies, including professional caregivers, informal caregivers, and older persons themselves.The research study was evaluated by the Ethics Commission of Northwest and Central Switzerland (EKNZ). All participants received an information document before the interview date detailing the purpose, procedure, and anonymization measures. After explaining the study during the agreed upon interview time and upon receiving their written informed consent, the interview process began.Four themes are identified: Identifying care needs, Taking responsibility, Hands-on work, Responding to care. As part of these themes, many codes highlighting the ambivalent impact of gerontechnologies are created, ranging from ‘Expanded capacity for…identifying care needs’ to ‘Create new & (un)necessary…hands-on work’. The moral implications of these results from the care ethics perspective are discussed, through the ethical elements of: attentiveness, responsibility, competence, and responsiveness.The moral implications of gerontechnologies on care phases from the care ethics perspective open up several questions on whether they actually help give care a central role in social life and provide more competent care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A highly innovative network project involving five centers across Italy. • The main principle of MULTIPLAT_Age is "aging in place" using ICT. • Data are stored in a shared online platform allowing the exchange of information. The prevention and treatment of frailty condition among multimorbid older adults, in community and hospital settings, is becoming a healthcare priority. Growing evidence suggests that a multidimensional approach could help not only in the early identification of older patients' needs but also in designing personalized preventive interventions. However, in clinical practice, the effectiveness of such interventions is limited by a lack of continuity of care and poor compliance of patients. The widespread diffusion of the information and communication technology (ICT) could offer an excellent way to implement and monitor multidimensional and personalized interventions for multimorbid older adults. In this scenario, the MULTIPLAT_AGE, is a network project involving five research centers with the main objective to supply multidimensional interventions targeted to cognitive, motor, pharmacological, and functional domains including ICT-based: i) transitional care model from the hospital to a protected home area; ii) automatic home-care system to improve activities of daily living; iii) program to improve appropriate drug prescription in nursing-home residents; iv) tele-rehabilitation program to reduce the risk of falls and v) cognitive stimulation delivered by remote in older adults with neurological disorders. Each project is linked to the others by employing a shared online platform, in a perspective of technological-supplied multicomponent interventions according to the concept of "aging in place" as the best solution for the treatment and healthcare of older people. Here we describe the general framework of the MULTIPLAT_AGE, and we examine every single project, pointing out innovative aspects, and discussing the expected results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Gerontechnological products are important in improving the quality of life, supporting independent life and aging in place. • Technologies widely used by older individuals are developed in the first stage of product design without consulting them. • Acceptance and use of technology by older individuals was influenced by many factors beyond age-related physical and cognitive changes. • Older people do not have sufficient knowledge about health technology and education and recreation technology. This study investigates the attitudes of Turkish older people towards the acceptance of gerontechnological products. It included a total of 871 older individuals aged 65 and above from seven geographical regions of Türkiye. A questionnaire adopted from previous studies was applied to collect the data. The use of products of the older people was studied under the headings of (i) home and daily life technology, (ii) communication technology, (iii) health technology and (iv) education and recreation technology. As a result of the factor analysis, 16 questions were classified under: "attitudes towards using technology (AUT), facilitating conditions (FC), perceived ease of use (PEU) and gerontechnology anxiety (GA)". The effect of independent variables on the use of gerontechnological products was investigated by one-way variance analysis, and the relationship between the use of neurotechnological products and the attitudes of the older people towards accepting gerontechnological products was investigated by correlation analysis. Region, place of residence, age, gender, education level, economic and health status were found to be important in use gerontechnological products (p < 0.05). There was a high correlation between product groups as well as between product groups and attitudes. Results can be utilized in the production and dissemination of gerontechnological products to increase the level of life quality of the older people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Wearable health technologies (WHTs) show promise in improving the health and well-being of the aging population because they promote healthy lifestyles. They can be used to collect health information from users and encourage them to be physically active. Despite potential benefits of WHTs, recent studies have shown that older people have low continued use intention toward WHTs. Previous work on this topic is disjointed, and new theoretical viewpoints are required. Design/methodology/approach: The authors propose an enablers and inhibitors perspective to model factors influencing continued use intention of WHTs among the elderly. To test the model, we collected data from Chinese elderly (N = 295) who had prior experience using WHTs. Findings: The study results show that social value is the strongest enabler of continued WHT use, and emotional and epistemic values and device quality also increase use continuance. Inertia and technology anxiety were identified as significant inhibitors. A post hoc importance performance map analysis revealed that while emotional value is a highly significant predictor of continued WHT use, existing WHTs do not stimulate such value in our sample. Research limitations/implications: The research findings illustrate the importance of incorporating user resistance in technology acceptance studies in general and WHT usage studies in particular. This study contributes by providing an integrative model of technology continued use intention for the elderly along with practical implications for policymakers. Originality/value: A limited number of prior studies have taken both enablers and inhibitors into account when explaining continued WHT use intention among the elderly. This paper fills this research gap and contributes to the WHT literature by considering both enablers and inhibitors in the same model. Moreover, this study contributes to the ongoing research on WHT, and more broadly, gerontechnology use among the elderly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease is a systemic progressive inflammatory autoimmune disorder. Elderly-onset RA can be assumed as a benign form of RA. Until recently, face-to-face therapeutic sessions between health professionals and patients are usually the method of its treatment. However, during pandemics, including coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), teletherapeutic sessions can extensively increase the patient safety especially in elderly patients who are more vulnerable to these infections. Thus, the aim of this randomized clinical trial was to evaluate a novel teletherapy approach for management of elderly patients suffering from RA by utilizing laser acupuncture.Methods: A teletherapy system was used for management of elderly patients suffering from RA. Sixty participants were allocated randomly into two groups and the ratio was 1:1. Patients in the first group were treated with laser acupuncture and telerehabilitation sessions, which consisted of aerobic exercise and virtual reality training. Patients in the second group received telerehabilitation sessions, which consisted of aerobic exercise and virtual reality training. Evaluation of patients was done by using the Health Assessment questionnaire (HAQ), the Rheumatoid Arthritis Quality of Life (RAQoL) questionnaire, and the analysis of interleukin-6 (IL-6), serum C-reactive protein (CRP), plasma adenosine triphosphate (ATP) concentration and plasma malondialdehyde (MDA).Results: A statistically significant difference was found in CRP, RAQoL, IL-6 and MDA between the pre- and post-treatments in the first group (p < 0.05) favouring the post-treatment group, while the HAQ showed a statistically significant difference between pre- and post-treatments (p < 0.05) in both groups. Statistically significant post-treatment differences were also observed between the two groups (p < 0.05) in RAQoL, CRP, ATP and MDA, favouring the first group.Discussion: Laser acupuncture teletherapy could be suggested as a reliable treatment method for elderly patients suffering from RA, as it can provide a safe and effective therapeutic approach. Teletherapy provided safer access to health professionals and patients while giving a high patient satisfaction value with a relatively lower cost (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04684693). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To explore reasons, thoughts, motives, and influencing factors regarding the use or non‐use of Personal Safety Alerting Devices (PSADs) in the daily lives of community‐dwelling older persons. Design: A qualitative descriptive study design was used. Methods: Six focus groups were conducted with a total of 32 older persons between February–August 2016. Data analysis followed the Qualitative Analysis Guide of Leuven. Results: The participants described the use or non‐use of PSADs as a decision resulting from a "legitimation process". This process implies that a person needs to perceive the necessity for a PSAD and then determine the right moment at which to start using it. During this process, each person weighs her or his "ageing self" and "perception of technology" then decides whether to start using a device or to delay its use. "Critical events" initiate this process, compelling the person to consider their own safety and their possible need for assistance. Conclusion: The legitimation process suggests that the initiation of PSAD use represents a turning point in life. Using a PSAD is not simply a matter of obtaining one. It is a complex decision‐making process establishing legitimation for its use, which is interwoven with one's individual ageing, self‐perception, and the meaning attributed to the device. Impact: Older persons need to be supported; in particular, they require time to go through the legitimation process for PSAD use. Nurses can empower them in this process, such that they perceive using a PSAD as a means to restore their frailty balance and feel enabled to (re)gain control over their own life and thus to preserve their independence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from the concept of intergenerational solidarity, this paper examines how relations of 36 elderly people with younger generations of their families influence their appropriations and uses of ICT. A multiqualitative approach - non-participant observation in ICT classes attended by the participants, followed by focus groups and semi-structured interviews - conducted in Brazil and Portugal reveals that the family contexts influence how older people deal with ICT in distinctive ways. In both countries, the influence happens either by building up social interactions and increasing communication inside and outside the family or by contributing to social and emotional isolation, even when family generations are physically close. Even within families - where supportive ties tend to be stronger than outside - intergenerational solidarity regarding digital access and use cannot be taken for granted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the latest statistics, the proportion of the elderly (+65) is increasing and is expected to double within the European Union in a period of 50 years. This ageing is due to the improvement of quality of life and advances in medicine in the last decades. Gerontechnology is receiving a great deal of attention as a way of providing the elderly with sustainable products, environments, and services combining gerontology and technology. One of the most important aspects to consider by gerontechnology is the mobility/rehabilitation technologies, because there is an important relationship between mobility and the elderly's quality of life. Telerehabilitation systems have emerged to allow the elderly to perform their rehabilitation exercises remotely. However, in many cases, the proposed systems assist neither the patients nor the experts about the progress of the rehabilitation. To address this problem, we propose in this paper, a fuzzy‐semantic system for evaluating patient's physical state during the rehabilitation process based on well‐known standard for patients' evaluation. Moreover, a tool called FINE has been developed that facilitates the evaluation be accomplished in a semi‐automatic way first asking patients to carry out a set of standard tests and then inferencing their state by means of a fuzzy‐semantic approach using the data captured during the rehabilitation tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gerontechnology aims at improving the functioning of older people and their carers in their daily lives as well as improving gerontological practices. To promote gerontechnology innovation in the hospital and bridge the gap between gerontechnology developers and hospitalized frail older patients, our objective was to create and implement a hospital-based geriatric living lab. We designed a hospital-based living lab, providing reflexive workshops bringing around the table gerontechnology users and developers, supplemented with an experimental hospital room receiving both the users and the devices to be tested. Three different types of users were distinguished: seriously ill older inpatients, professional hospital caregivers, and informal carers. Three different kinds of devices were also distinguished: prototypes under development, new services and/or care organizations, and new uses. Finally, we were able to open in 2018 the Angers Living Lab En GéRiatrie hOspitalière (ALLEGRO) hospital-based geriatric living lab. ALLEGRO offers the organization of "idea incubator workshops" for users and developers, together with one "experimental hospital room" equipped with validated devices to provide reference measures used as a standard to test the diagnostic efficacy of prototypes. The room is intended to accommodate one older inpatient with severe acute organic failures. No patient selection is planned at admission, apart from consent to research. Until now, no refusal to participate in a study was noted. In conclusion, we offer a new and unprecedented hospital-based geriatric living lab to improve hospital care for older inpatients and to promote successful aging through gerontechnology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background non-pharmacological interventions to prevent delirium are useful in hospitalised older adults. However, they are poorly implemented in clinical practice. We aimed to develop a software for bedside use by hospitalised older adults and to improve their access to these interventions. Methods a transdisciplinary team composed of healthcare professionals, designers, engineers and older adults participated in the development of the software. Scrum methodology was used to coordinate the work of the team, and the software was evaluated in a feasibility study. Results a software for touchscreen mobile devices that supports Android 5.0 or later was produced, including modules for time-spatial re-orientation, cognitive stimulation, early mobilisation, sensorial support use promotion, sleep hygiene and pain management optimisation. Horizontal disposition, use of colour contrast and large interaction areas were used to improve accessibility. The software's usability and accessibility were evaluated in 34 older adults (average age 73.2 ± 9.1 years) showing that 91.1% of them got access to all the software functions without previous instructions. The clinical feasibility assessment showed that 83.3% of the 30 enrolled hospitalised patients (76 ± 8 years) completed the 5-day protocol of software usage during hospitalisation. Software use was associated with a decreased trend in delirium incidence of 5 of 32 (15.6%) at baseline to 2 of 30 (6.6%) after its implementation. Conclusion a highly accessible and implementable software, designed to improve access to non-pharmacological interventions to prevent delirium in hospitalised older adults, was developed. The effectiveness of the software will be evaluated in a randomised clinical trial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A new system for predicting the desire to empty the bladder in supine patients in bed was developed and evaluated. • Predictions with promising sensitivity and specificity could be made based on force sensors and pulse rate variability. • The results suggest that such a system could provide valuable help to caregivers in providing personalized continence care for frail, dependent patients. Urinary incontinence is highly prevalent in elderly populations with physical and cognitive impairment. For the assessment and care of urinary incontinence, the desire to void is important. We have developed a bed sensor system that non-invasively and unconstrainedly measures the parameter changes of unintentional body movements. This study is aimed to evaluate the validity of measurement by the sensor system and parameters in healthy adults. We conducted experiments on 29 healthy adult volunteers. The parameters were unintentional body movement derived from changes in center of gravity and pulse rate variability (PRV) based on pulse wave measurements using a finger probe; further the relationship between the desire to void and measured parameters were examined. The body movement parameters at the buttock and thigh were associated with the desire to void (p < 0.050). All the PRV parameters trended significantly with desire to void as well (p < 0.050). The parameters achieved sensitivities of 0.18–0.88 in estimating strong desire to void, and 7 among 14 sensitivity measurements included in the receiver operating characteristic analysis exceeded 0.70. The body movement parameters and PRV parameters were useful in the estimation of the desire to void in healthy adults. To achieve accurate estimation, a combination of the PRV parameters and body movement parameters is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Given findings that generally support the benefits of information and communication technology (ICT) for older adults' psychosocial adjustment, one might surmise that lonely older adults, who have a stronger need for psychological support, would reap more psychosocial benefits from ICT use. However, scant research has examined this view, much less the likelihood that ICT use might worsen the psychological well-being of lonely older adults, as has been shown to be the case in younger adults.Objective: To examine whether the association between ICT use and psychological adjustment (i.e., psychological distress and sense of community [SOC]) among older adults depends on their loneliness levels.Methods: A representative sample of 738 Hong Kong SAR Chinese older adults aged 60 years or older (56% female) was interviewed in 2017 on loneliness, frequency of ICT use (i.e., Internet and smart devices), psychological distress (6-item Kessler scale; K6), and SOC.Results: Regression analyses showed that loneliness significantly moderated the relationship between ICT use frequency and psychological adjustment (psychological distress and SOC); more frequent ICT use was associated with more psychological distress and less SOC, with higher levels of loneliness.Conclusion: These findings suggest that ICT use may be a mixed blessing for older adults, i.e., using more ICT might predict worse psychological adjustment among lonelier older adults. Efforts that promote ICT use among older adults should take their loneliness levels into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose of the Study Participatory design (PD) is widely used within gerontechnology but there is no common understanding about which methods are used for what purposes. This review aims to examine what different forms of PD exist in the field of gerontechnology and how these can be categorized. Design and Methods We conducted a systematic literature review covering several databases. The search strategy was based on 3 elements: (1) participatory methods and approaches with (2) older persons aiming at developing (3) technology for older people. Results Our final review included 26 studies representing a variety of technologies designed/developed and methods/instruments applied. According to the technologies, the publications reviewed can be categorized in 3 groups: Studies that (1) use already existing technology with the aim to find new ways of use; (2) aim at creating new devices; (3) test and/or modify prototypes. The implementation of PD depends on the questions: Why a participatory approach is applied, who is involved as future user(s), when those future users are involved, and how they are incorporated into the innovation process. Implications There are multiple ways, methods, and instruments to integrate users into the innovation process. Which methods should be applied, depends on the context. However, most studies do not evaluate if participatory approaches will lead to a better acceptance and/or use of the co-developed products. Therefore, participatory design should follow a comprehensive strategy, starting with the users' needs and ending with an evaluation if the applied methods have led to better results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose directions for future research on aging and technology to address fundamental changes in the experience of later life that come with the "digitization" of societies. Our argument is contextualized by the massive investments of policy makers and companies in gerontechnologies and their failure to create scale and impact. Partly this failure is due to an interventionist logic that positions new technologies as interventions or solutions to the problems of aging. What has been overlooked – at least theoretically – is how aging is already co-constituted by gerontechnology design, the socio-material practices it enacts, and the policy discourse around them. Goals are (a) reviewing elements of the current aging and technology agenda, (b) demonstrating how the interventionist logic has hampered theory development (and practical impact), (c) pulling together key insights from the emerging body of empirical literature at the intersection of social gerontology and Science and Technology Studies (STS), with the objective of (d) providing directions for future research on aging and technology. Our argument presents the theoretical gains that can be made by combining insights from STS and social gerontology to research the co-constitution of aging and technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The burgeoning field of gerontechnology, which is the interdisciplinary field of applying technology to ageing issues, has focused primarily on "active ageing" and maintaining independence for older adults. To date, there has been less focus on people who develop dementia. Here, we argue for the field of gerontechnology to have a greater emphasis on clinical applications for dementia. This can be captured under the rubric of "psychogeritechnology," a term we have coined to describe the range of technology approaches to the prevention, prediction, screening, assessment, diagnosis, management, and monitoring of people at risk of, or living with, dementia.Aim: Using Japan as the world's leading "super-aged' nation as a paradigm, the purpose of this paper is to provide a narrative review of the use of innovative technology for the diagnosis, management and support of people at risk of, or living with, dementia.Methods: By following the "life course" of dementia, we will use clinical exemplars and case studies of psychogeritechnological applications from a Japanese context, specific to each stage of dementia, from the preclinical to the advanced stage. In the preclinical stage, the focus will be on prevention and early detection of degenerative cognitive-functional trajectories. In the early-stage of dementia, we will outline examples of screening, assessment, diagnosis, and clinical monitoring, as well as the use of technology to support independent living and autonomy. In the moderate stage, examples of safety monitoring systems, and assistive technology to foster independence, quality of life will be outlined. Finally, in the advanced stage of dementia, our focus will be on assistive technology in the care home setting, and the need to foster secure and efficient communication among care providers. We will discuss these applications in terms of the evolution of the "technological roadmap" for dementia, and the need for a theoretical underpinning for the field, a meaningful and flexible evaluation framework, and consideration of the "wider perspective" including safety-critical issues, ethical issues, and the relation to policy and health economics.Conclusions: Japan, as a rapidly ageing society, is on the forefront of developing technology to support people with dementia. The new field of psychogeritechnology must harness the potential of such developments, while furthering the methodology to implement and evaluate the changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the interest of industry, government agencies and healthcare professionals in technology for aging people has increased. The challenge is whether technology may play a role in enhancing independence and quality of life and in reducing individual and societal costs of caring. Information and communication technologies, i.e. tools aimed at communicating and informing, assistive technologies designed to maintain older peoples' independence and increasing safety, and human–computer interaction technologies for supporting older people with motility and cognitive impairments as humanoid robots, exoskeletons, rehabilitation robots, service robots and companion-type are interdisciplinary topics both in research and in clinical practice. The most promising clinical applications of technologies are housing and safety to guarantee older people remaining in their own homes and communities, mobility and rehabilitation to improve mobility and gait and communication and quality of life by reducing isolation, improve management of medications and transportation. Many factors impair a broad use of technology in older age, including psychosocial and ethical issues, costs and fear of losing human interaction. A substantial lack of appropriate clinical trials to establish the clinical role of technologies to improve physical or cognitive performances and/or quality of life of subjects and their caregivers may suggest that the classical biomedical research model may not be the optimal choice to evaluate technologies in older people. In conclusion, successful technology development requires a great effort in interdisciplinary collaboration to integrate technologies into the existing health and social service systems with the aim to fit into the older adults' everyday life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Information and communicative technology (ICT) use is a potential vehicle for improving the psychological well-being (PWB) of older people. We examined the roles of age, frailty, and social connectedness in the relationship between ICT use and PWB. Method: Telephone interviews were conducted in mid-2016 with 1201 participants aged 50 and above (55.7% female) residing in Hong Kong, China. The participants reported PWB, ICT use (frequency of using the Internet and smart devices), frailty status, contact with family, friends, and neighbors, self-rated health, subjective financial sufficiency, education level, and employment status. Results: We found that the association between ICT and PWB was moderated by age: ICT was associated with PWB only among old-olds (75+), but not in other age groups. This moderation was mediated by contact with family, but not with friends or neighbors. The moderation was further qualified by frailty status: the ICT-by-age moderation was found only among frail, but not pre-frail or robust older adults. Conclusion: The findings suggest that ICT use can potentially enhance the PWB of older adults aged 75+ through facilitating their contact with family members. These benefits might be particularly salient for those who were frail. Improving ICT access and literacy among older adults may be promising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transportation infrastructure is a critical component to a nation’s economy, security, and wellbeing. In order to keep up with the rising population, there is a great need for more efficient and cost-effective technologies and techniques to not only repair the infrastructure, but also to advance and expand the transportation infrastructure to sustain the growing population. Building Information Modeling (BIM) has been widely adopted in the building industry, and its established methods and technologies show enormous potential in benefiting the transportation industry. The purpose of this paper is to present a literature review and critical analysis of BIM for transportation infrastructure. A total of 189 publications in the area of BIM for transportation infrastructure were reviewed, including journal articles, conference proceedings, and published reports. Additionally, schemas and file formats from 9 main categories and 34 areas related to transportation infrastructure were reviewed. An application was developed to collect, store, and analyze the publications. Various algorithms were developed and implemented to help in the automation and analysis of the review. The goal of this paper is to provide a comprehensive, up-to-date literature review and critical analysis of research areas regarding BIM for transportation infrastructure to further facilitate research and applications in this domain. Based on the results of the analysis, current topics and trends, applications and uses, emerging technologies, benefits, challenges and limitations, research gaps, and future needs are discussed. Significantly, the contribution of this paper is providing the foundation of current research, gaps, and emerging technologies needed to facilitate further research and applications for both academia and industry stakeholders to develop more efficient and cost-effective techniques necessary to repair, advance, and expand the transportation infrastructure. Furthermore, the results show that the use of BIM for transportation infrastructure has been increasing, although the research has mainly been focusing on roads, highways, and bridges. The results also reveal a major need for a standard neutral exchange format and schema to promote interoperability. Most importantly, the continuing collaboration between academia and industry is required to mitigate most challenges and to realize the full potential of BIM for transportation infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Functional decline has been observed three to six months after a minor injury in previously independent older adults. Physical activity interventions are effective to prevent this decline but most of those older adults are not active. In fact, home-based and community-based exercise program present barriers for this population (e.g. lack of supervision, transport and predetermined schedule. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of a home-based physical activity intervention using gerontechnology in older adults who sustained minor injuries by comparing it to a traditional community-based group intervention. Method 48 previously independent individuals, aged 65 and older, discharged back home after consulting an Emergency Department to treat minor injuries were randomized into three groups 1) home-based exercise program using gerontechnology (HEPtech = 18) 2) supervised group community-based exercise program (YMCA = 16) or 3) control group (CONT = 12). Functional capacities and other physical outcomes were compared across groups after three months of intervention. Results Both intervention groups showed improved functional capacities (e.g. SPPB, Walking speed, Balance) after three months of physical activity intervention compared to control group who only maintain theirs. Conclusion This new home-based exercise intervention using gerontechnology could be a good alternative for health professionals who wish to help their older adults patients with minor injuries engage in exercise program in order to prevent functional losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to identify key determinants of effective implementation of innovations in respect to assisted living ecosystems for the elderly. Desk-study as a method was used and EBSCO (including Medline), ScienceDirect, Open Knowledge Repository, and BazEkon databases were researched. The scope of ageing and its key economic and social consequences are portrayed at the beginning. Then main categories of seniors' needs are presented. Consequently the main ways innovations and new technologies can respond to these needs are identified accompanied by senior citizens' particular attitude toward new technologies, especially ICT. Then Gerontechnology is presented not only as an important social innovation, but also as a leverage for more effective implementation of innovations and modern technologies in active and assisted living for seniors. The article ends with identification of three key success factors for effective implementation of innovations and new technologies by independently living seniors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our objective was to bridge the gap between gerontechnology developers and hospitalized frail elderly people, in order to promote open gerontechnology innovation in hospitals. We designed a hospital-based living lab that provides reflexive "idea incubator workshops" that gather both the users and the developers of technology, supplemented with an "experimental hospital room" for the testing of devices by older inpatients. The ALLEGRO living lab was delivered in 2018 at the Geriatric Department of Angers University Hospital, France. The workshops and experimental hospital room should help frail older inpatients to participate in the co-design and co-development of new technologies to improve hospital care and promote successful aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gerontechnology is a new cross-disciplinary and multidisciplinary field dedicated to implementation of novel technologies in order to meet the complex needs of daily life of older people. It becomes more and more important due to the phenomenon of demographic aging that is present in Romania too. Various methods of adapting environment and assisting older people in order to help them remain as long as possible in their own homes are presented. These methods are based on information and communication technologies in order to create a safer and better-equipped home according to the needs of older people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel ecosystem to promote the physical, emotional and psychic health and well-being of the elderly is presented. Our proposal was designed to add several services developed to meet the needs of the senior population, namely services to improve social inclusion and increase contribution to society. Moreover, the solution monitors the vital signs of elderly individuals, as well as environmental parameters and behavior patterns, in order to seek eminent danger situations and predict potential hazardous issues, acting in accordance with the various alert levels specified for each individual. The platform was tested by seniors in a real scenario. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed ecosystem was well accepted and is easy to use by seniors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article shows how sociomaterial practices of ordering temporality can become part of labor and workers identities, when homecare workers who work with 'time-saving' technology experience a lack of sufficient time to do their work. The article offers the concept 'time labour' to describe this practice, and defines it as homecare workers methods of saving time, by cutting visits to care recipients as short as possible, and by using technology to strategically produce and maintain quantitative representations of themselves as skilled workers. The term time labor conceptualizes these methods as sociomaterial enactments of temporality that are an intrinsic part of the workers ability to perform that work as well as their ability to produce and maintain a professional identity. The article argues that the role of technology is never predictable, but always emerges in use, and suggests a turn toward domestication theory in practice theoretical studies of work with technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The number of older adults residing in assisted living communities is increasing. Despite the benefits of physical activity (PA) on physical and cognitive capacities, and the opportunities for being active offered in these living environments, this population is highly sedentary and more at risk of physical decline. This study aimed to assess the feasibility, the acceptability, and the effects of PA intervention using gerontechnology in assisted living communities. Methods Forty-two older adults in 4 assisted living communities were recruited and randomly assigned to an exercise intervention group (EX) or a control group (CON) using a 2:1 ratio. The EX group followed a 12-week PA program (2 sessions per week) using gerontechnology. Body composition, health status, quality of life, and functional capacities were evaluated at baseline, 12 weeks, and 24 weeks after baseline. Results Differences between groups were observed in the number of reported comorbidities (EX: 3.1 ± 1.6 vs CON: 5.0 ± 1.8; P = .007), SF-36 total score (EX: 80% ± 10% vs CON: 66% ± 15%; P = .004), and Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) total score (EX: 9.1 ± 1.8 vs CON: 7.5 ± 1.4; P = .006) at baseline. The EX group completed 89% ± 17% of the 24 prescribed sessions and realized 67% ± 13% of them in autonomy, reaching a quality level of 87% ± 6%. Of the EX participants, 93.8% enjoyed the exercises a lot or well, and 92.8% of them rated the exercises as being either easy or a little difficult. Changes between baseline and follow-up were statistically different between groups for walking speed (EX: +0.10 ± 0.20 vs CON: −0.04 ± 0.16 m/s; P = .04) and the SPPB score (EX: +1.1 ± 2.0 vs CON: −0.4 ± 1.6; P = .03). Conclusion We found that PA intervention using gerontechnology in assisted living communities for older adults was feasible and acceptable, but more importantly induced improvement in functional capacities and walking speed, which is the main predictor of mortality in the elderly population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advancements in medical science and technology, medicine and public health coupled with increased consciousness about nutrition and environmental and personal hygiene have paved the way for the dramatic increase in life expectancy globally in the past several decades. However, increased life expectancy has given rise to an increasing aging population, thus jeopardizing the socio-economic structure of many countries in terms of costs associated with elderly healthcare and wellbeing. In order to cope with the growing need for elderly healthcare services, it is essential to develop affordable, unobtrusive and easy-to-use healthcare solutions. Smart homes, which incorporate environmental and wearable medical sensors, actuators, and modern communication and information technologies, can enable continuous and remote monitoring of elderly health and wellbeing at a low cost. Smart homes may allow the elderly to stay in their comfortable home environments instead of expensive and limited healthcare facilities. Healthcare personnel can also keep track of the overall health condition of the elderly in real-time and provide feedback and support from distant facilities. In this paper, we have presented a comprehensive review on the state-of-the-art research and development in smart home based remote healthcare technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing global population of older adults is potential consumers of a category of products referred to as smart technologies, but also known as telehealth, telecare, information and communication technologies, robotics, and gerontechnology. This paper constructs a theoretical model to explain whether older people will adopt smart technology options to cope with their discrepant individual or environmental circumstances, thereby enabling them to age in place. Its proposed constructs and relationships are drawn from multiple academic disciplines and professional specialties, and an extensive literature focused on the factors influencing the acceptance of these smart technologies. It specifically examines whether older adults will substitute these new technologies for traditional coping solutions that rely on informal and formal care assistance and low technology related products. The model argues that older people will more positively evaluate smart technology alternatives when they feel more stressed because of their unmet needs, have greater resilience (stronger perceptions of self-efficacy and greater openness to new information), and are more strongly persuaded by their sources of outside messaging (external information) and their past experiences (internal information). It proposes that older people distinguish three attributes of these coping options when they appraise them: perceived efficaciousness, perceived usability, and perceived collateral damages. The more positively older people evaluate these attributes, the more likely that they will adopt these smart technology products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ageing-in-place is an umbrella term covering all aspects of living independently at home. It also emphasizes the desire of older people to stay in their well-known neighborhood with services they are familiar with and to stay in the community they know with neighbors, family, friends, and acquaintances from a long time ago. When ageing though, older people will need help and support to age-in-place, depending on the phase of ageing and the (potential) need for help or support. For ageing-in-place I have been using two constructions to distinguish the extent of support or tools that can be used to stay at home. One construction comprises the adagio My Home, Is My Castle, expressing the independent position of the older adult living at home. The other construction is Living Comfortably at Home, expressing the wish to stay as long as possible at home, even when having one or more chronic disorders or experiencing a functional or mental decline, with the support of family and or professional care or assistive tools. The domains in which these constructions occur will be discussed, focussing on the latter construction while also providing an insight into the potential of technological innovations to avoid the feeling of loneliness or social isolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To date, not much is known about the psychological and motivational factors underlying technology use in late life. What are the interindividual determinants that lead older adults to invest in using technological innovations despite the age-related physiological changes that impose challenges on behavioral plasticity in everyday life?Objective: This research explores interindividual differences in subjective technology adaptivity - a general technology-related motivational resource that accounts for technology use in late life. More specifically, we investigate the influence of this factor relative to demographic characteristics, personality traits, and functional limitations in a longitudinal sample of community-dwelling older adults.Methods: We report results from a paper-and-pencil survey with 136 older adults between 59 and 92 years of age (mean = 71.4, SD = 7.4). Of those participants, 77 participated in a 2-year follow-up. We assessed self-reports of technology use, subjective technology adaptivity, functional limitations, and the personality traits openness to new experiences and neuroticism.Results: Higher levels of subjective technology adaptivity were associated with technology use at the first measurement as well as increased use over the course of 2 years.Conclusions: Subjective technology adaptivity is a significant predictor of technology use in old age. Our findings contribute to improving the understanding of interindividual differences when using technological innovation in late life. Moreover, our findings have implications in the context of user involvement and may contribute to the successful development of innovative technology for older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognising the rise of an aging population and independent living among older adults, many governments and organisations have developed and promoted new technologies in the form of gerontechnologies to support the needs and enhance the well-being of older adults. However, the adoption of products using such technology remains modest among the aging population. This study introduces the notion of power in the form of power posing and examines its impact on new technology adoption, particularly gerontechnology, among older adults. Using an experimental approach on a sample of older adults exposed to an in-house near-field communication-enabled light system, the study finds that high-power poses have a greater and more positive impact on older adults’ perceived ease of use of, perceived usefulness of, and intentions to use gerontechnology than low-power poses. Implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]