"Being Connected" at home: Making use of digital devices in later life
Area: Technology and communication
PI: López Gómez, Daniel
Research group: CareNet – Care and Preparedness in the Network Society
Project status: Open
Funding institution: Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness – Spain
Dates: 2018 - 2021
Objectives: To monitor trends with regard to the use of digital communication devices among older people in their homes and other everyday spaces by tracking smartphone and mobile app activity patterns of 600 people aged 55 to 79 years old.
To gain an understanding of the interaction between the importance and use of everyday spaces and the use of digital communication devices among older people by conducting a qualitative study in homes, collaborative housing, nursing homes and neighbourhoods as significant sites of digital communication devices use - and non-use.
To establish Academic Work Places in each country, where researchers, elderly people, ICT designers and other stakeholders will develop and evaluate co-design methods, informed by the empirically-grounded theoretical insights derived from the project.
To improve the understanding of ageing processes in the context of increasingly digitalized societies, drawing on interdisciplinary insights and the empirical data collected.