Envisioning the future for older adults: Autonomy, health, well-being, and social connectedness with technology support

Abstract

Envisioning the future of older adults of 2050 is a challenging task given the heterogeneity of the older adult population. We consider primarily the domains of home, health, and social participation for individuals over age 65 and the potential role of information, communication, and robotic technology for enhanced independence, maintenance of autonomy, and enriched quality of life. We develop several scenarios to illustrate the diversity of circumstances, health, and living situations for older adults in the future. We discuss possible negative outcomes resulting from the proliferation of technology, including increased social isolation and a widening digital divide. However, we focus primarily on envisioning desired situations wherein older adults have autonomy and independence; are easily able to manage their health and wellness needs; have rich and rewarding opportunities for social connectedness, personal growth, continued life purpose, and overall high quality of life. To attain this future, we must be acting now: designing the technology with involvement by today's older adults who represent the needs and capabilities of tomorrow's older adults; developing the necessary infrastructure to support widespread availability and deployment of these technologies; and supporting the integration of technology into people's lives at younger ages with adaptive functionality to support changing needs and preferences.

Using sensor‐based technology for safety and independence – the experiences of people with dementia and their families

“…The findings are important from a user perspective and need to be considered in the development of technology for persons with dementia, to support their autonomy and independence as well as their safety.…”

Preparing for a paradigm shift in aging populations: listen to the oldest old

“…Social connectedness is important for overall quality of life (Rogers & Mitzner, 2017). Although the networks of the oldest old were small, their ties with family members, professionals, friends, and neighbours were strong because of regular contact.…”

Tangible futures: Combining scenario thinking and personas - A pilot study on urban mobility

“…Even though personas are usually applied for the design of new products and services, comparable approaches exist in scenario thinking. For instance, existing scenario studies in the mobility domain frame scenarios as personal narratives, close to the persona approach (Rogers & Mitzner, 2017). However, these examples do not provide a systematic method for combining these two approaches.…”

“…Our approach constitutes an "add-on" to the scenario planning approach since it can support decision makers from the private and public sector by allowing to create a portfolio of multiple situated narratives. Compared with previous attempts to use personal narratives in scenario thinking projects (Palmer, 2014;Rogers & Mitzner, 2017), our approach is more applied and systematic as it consistently explores the consequences of each scenario for each persona, rather than using a specific persona to tell the story of each scenario.…”