Ambient Assisted Living Technologies for Aging Well: A Scoping Review

Ambient assisted living (AAL) technology is of considerable interest in supporting the independence and quality of life of older adults. As such, it is a core focus of the emerging field of gerontechnology, which considers how technological innovation can aid health and well-being in older age. For this scoping review, a comprehensive search of databases and key journals was conducted from January to April of 2013 in order to identify AAL technologies that have the potential to help deal with some of the challenges associated with aging. In particular, we focused on technologies that could potentially be used by people living with some degree of cognitive impairment, ranging from normal cognitive aging to mild cognitive impairment up to earlier stages of dementia. Options currently available and those still under development were both included in our search. Fifty-nine technologies were identified and are outlined here, along with a discussion of history of AAL from a gerontological perspective and related theoretical considerations.