Process requirements for building sustainable digital assistive technology for older people

• Published in: Journal of assistive technologies Vol. 3; no. 3; pp. 4 - 13
• Main Authors: Olphert, Wendy, Damodaran, Leela, Balatsoukas, Panos, Parkinson, Catherine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Emerald Group Publishing Limited 23-09-2009
• Subjects: Digital assistive technology; Older people; Participatory development of technologies; Technology abandonment; Participatory development of technologies; Digital assistive technology; Older people; Technology abandonment
• ISSN: 1754-9450
• DOI: 10.1108/17549450200900019

The term 'digital assistive technology' refers to the use of ICTs for the support of older people's everyday tasks. These tasks could range from online shopping to information seeking and searching the web in a variety of ways eg. by the use of desktop or ubiquitous computing. Currently, research under the New Dynamics of Ageing Programme, funded by the ESRC, EPSRC, BBSRC, MRC and AHRC, and research funded by other bodies, including SPARC, tries to improve older people's quality of life through the exploitation and exploration of new developments in computing and information technology. However, the acceptance rate of digital assistive technology by older people is still low, while the abandonment of already existing technologies increases. The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework for process requirements to inform the decision-making of designers and implementers of digital assistive technologies. These process requirements should facilitate the development of more adaptable user-centred systems that can dynamically accommodate the changing needs of older people and decrease the rate of abandonment of digital assistive technologies.