The potential environment: Home, technology, and future aging

Abstract

Two issues of technology and aging that need to be resolved before potential residential environments for older adults become habitable are (a) the extent to which technological advances that would support habitability are user-friendly to this population and (b) the extent to which retrofits or inclusions in new architecture are affordable. The notion that older people are uncomfortable with new technologies or unable to adapt to them does not seem credible, considering that all manner of electronic devices have been adopted by this cohort. Engineers wishing to apply new technologies to housing must consider the future needs of individual households. To the extent that most Americans will continue to prefer to age in place, methods of centralizing information systems must be developed, so that a wide range of services can be locally delivered. If electronic communication and control systems are to function on behalf of the elderly or disabled within the home, single-call backup and repair services, at a local level, must also be immediately available. Older people's priorities in daily living dictate what they need in terms of new technologies.