Aging and the Digital Life Course is the third volume in the series Life Course, Culture & Aging: Global Transformations, a survey collection of studies and monographs about the wide-ranging cross-cultural impacts of an ageing world population. This particular volume focuses on the complex relationships between ageing and Information and Communications Technology (ICT). In the introduction, editors Prendergast and Garattini frame the volume within the context of an earlier global research project in which they were engaged as ethnographers funded by the technology company Intel that sought a comprehensive understanding of ageing in order to develop more effectively new technologies to support independent living and ageing-in-place. This Intel Global Ageing Experience Project provides the editors' bona fides in taking the broad understanding of ageing gained through the Intel project and applying it to the diverse subjects surrounding ageing adults and ICT.
The editors wisely devote a large amount of time in the introduction and throughout the book framing the ageing and technology research presented in the book by offering stunning statistics on global ageing. They begin by pointing out that, ‘According to the World Health Organization (WHO) “the proportion of the world's population over 60 years will double from about 11% to 22%” between 2000 and 2050, with the absolute number of people aged 60 years and over expected to increase from 605 million to 2 billion (WHO 2014: passim)’ (http://www.who.int/ageing/en). The editors acknowledge that the increasing over-80 population poses a challenge, including how to meet the needs of those who experience frailty, illness, falls, social isolation and cognitive decline. At the same time, they point out that the negative connotations associated with ‘old age’, including illness and powerlessness, paint a picture that can create stigma when in fact humans are living longer, healthier lives and the ageing population is growing in size, thereby gaining more, not less, political and consumer power, as well as shoring up communities by becoming activists and volunteers. All these realities challenge the stereotypical stigma associated with ‘the elderly’ and point to the diversity of the ‘ageing’ experience as well as both the technological needs and uses of technology by this population.
The main purpose of the publication is to showcase the emerging findings in wide-ranging interesting and important subjects, such as how older adults are accessing and using social media, cultural, physical and practical barriers that need to be considered when designing technology for older adults, how social robots may impact the ageing community, how technology can be used for physical and emotional health and wellbeing, technologies for people with cognitive impairment and their care-givers, telemedicine and telecare, gaming development for older adults, the internet as a marketplace for care-giver support, and what happens to our digital identities at the end of our lives. The editors accomplish this objective by presenting a broad survey of research on these topics, while acknowledging that ‘it is only the start of a much larger and very important conversation about what we need to consider when designing technologies across the landscapes of the later life course’ (p. 2).
The major themes of this survey provide the basis for the organisation of the three sections of the book: Connections, Networks and Interactions; Health and Wellbeing; and Life Course Transitions.
The research studies presented in the first section, Connections, Networks and Interactions, address the benefits to the entire community of providing greater online access to older persons as well as the important factors in helping ensure that they want to learn how to use it and feel comfortable doing so. Particularly interesting in this section is the first chapter, ‘Social Media and the Age-friendly Community,’ in which author Philip B. Stafford identifies emerging ageing-in-place community models being adopted throughout the United States of America and how access to information and civic engagement are key elements of this fast-growing movement rather than the traditional focus on ‘the built environment and the infrastructure of services associated with mobility and housing’ (p. 36). He illustrates with several excellent examples, including how a social networking site called Tyze evolved from a focus on support for care-givers of persons with developmental disabilities to a much broader political advocacy platform.
While the editors advocate for expanding our traditional perceptions of the dependency model of ageing, in the section on Health and Wellbeing, they acknowledge that, while not a panacea, technology can play a helpful role for older adults coping with physical, social and emotional isolation due to restricting health conditions, as long as the technology is thoughtfully designed. The chapter by Arlene J. Astell on creating technology for those with dementia is particularly compelling.
This book is by its survey nature geared more towards researchers and students. However, it also has appeal to other audiences through its inclusion of illustrative anecdotes and current thinking on practical applications of technology to enhance the quality of life for ageing adults and their care-givers, while providing benefits to the wider community at large.
