Excerpt

The Workshop on Technology for Adaptive Aging was designed to identify high-payoff areas in the development of technological devices that assist people who are aging normally, as well as those with disabilities and impairments. From the many candidate domains identified as important in the daily life of older adults, the steering committee focused on six: communication, employment, health, learning, living environments, and transportation. This volume consists of commentary by the steering committee on the workshop topics together with the complete set of papers presented.

Contents

• THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
• STEERING COMMITTEE FOR THE WORKSHOP ON ADAPTIVE AGING: FROM TECHNOLOGY TO GERONTOLOGY
• BOARD ON BEHAVIORAL, COGNITIVE, AND SENSORY SCIENCES
• Preface
• Executive Summary
  • CHANGES WITH AGING
  • TECHNOLOGY IN DAILY LIFE
  • LESSONS FROM THE WORKSHOP
• I. Steering Committee Report
  • 1. Introduction and Overview
    • PROJECT BACKGROUND
    • KEY ISSUES FOR THE ACCEPTANCE OF TECHNOLOGIES
    • ISSUES FOR THE SUCCESSFUL INTRODUCTION OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES
    • STEERING COMMITTEE COMMENTARY ON THE WORKSHOP
    • WHAT CAN BE LEARNED FROM THE WORKSHOP
    • SUMMARY
• II. Overview Papers
  • 2. Cognitive Aging
    K. Warner Schaie.
    • DEFINITION OF COGNITIVE AGING
    • METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES
    • BASIC FINDINGS FROM THE EXPERIMENTAL LITERATURE ON COGNITIVE AGING
    • BASIC FINDINGS FROM THE DESCRIPTIVE LITERATURE ON AGE CHANGES IN INTELLECTUAL COMPETENCE
    • DECISION MAKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING
    • CAN COGNITIVE AGING BE SLOWED OR REVERSED?
    • OTHER RELATED TOPICS IN COGNITIVE AGING
    • FUTURE DIRECTION
    • REFERENCES
  • 3. Movement Control in the Older Adult
    Caroline J. Ketcham and George E. Stelmach.
    • INTRODUCTION
    • RESPONSE INITIATION
    • MOVEMENT CONTROL DECREMENTS
    • SENSORIMOTOR DECLINES WITH AGE
    • CHANGES IN POSTURE AND BALANCE
    • SKILL LEARNING
    • TRAINING PROGRAMS
    • REFERENCES
  • 4. Methodological Issues in the Assessment of Technology Use for Older Adults
    Christopher Hertzog and Leah Light.
    • BASIC ISSUES IN EVALUATING TECHNOLOGICAL INTERVENTIONS
    • MEASUREMENT ISSUES IN ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION
    • EXPERIMENTAL AND QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN PRINCIPLES
    • CONSIDERING THE IMPLICATIONS OF RESEARCH RESULTS
    • CONCLUSIONS
    • REFERENCES
• III. Domain-Specific Papers
  • 5. Addressing the Communication Needs of an Aging Society
    Susan Kemper and Jose C. Lacal.
    • COMMUNICATION NEEDS OF OLDER PEOPLE
    • THREE BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION
    • TECHNOLOGY TO EMPOWER OLDER ADULTS
    • CONCLUSION
    • REFERENCES
  • 6. Technology and Employment
    Sara J. Czaja; Phyllis Moen.
    • DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS RELATED TO AGING, WORK, AND RETIREMENT
    • TECHNOLOGY AND AN AGING WORK FORCE
    • AREAS OF NEEDED RESEARCH
    • CONCLUSIONS
    • REFERENCES
  • 7. Everyday Health: Technology for Adaptive Aging
    Eric Dishman, Judith Matthews, and Jacqueline Dunbar-Jacob.
    • AGING AND ASSOCIATED HEALTH CONDITIONS
    • MODEL OF HEALTH-RELATED TECHNOLOGY
    • FROM TELEMEDICINE TO EMBEDDED HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES
    • CHALLENGES FOR HEALTH-RELATED TECHNOLOGIES RESEARCH
    • REFERENCES
  • 8. Technology and Learning in Current and Future Older Cohorts
    Sherry L. Willis.
    • COGNITIVE PROCESSES INVOLVED IN LEARNING: INFORMATION SEEKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING
    • CHALLENGES IN E-LEARNING AND E-INSTRUCTION
    • USING TECHNOLOGY FOR SYNCHRONOUS, DISTRIBUTED LEARNING
    • THE CONTEXT FOR E-LEARNING
    • REFERENCES
  • 9. The Impact of Technology on Living Environments for Older Adults
    Ann Horgas and Gregory Abowd.
    • TYPES OF LIVING ENVIRONMENTS
    • FUNCTIONAL STATUS AND INDEPENDENCE
    • TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS RELATED TO LIVING ENVIRONMENTS
    • TECHNOLOGY ASSISTANCE IN OTHER ENVIRONMENTS
    • SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
    • REFERENCES
    • APPENDIX Research Centers Active in Technology for Living Environments
  • 10. Personal Vehicle Transportation
    Joachim Meyer.
    • CONTINUED DRIVING AT AN ADVANCED AGE
    • WHAT MAKES OLDER DRIVERS DIFFERENT?
    • SOME AGE-RELATED CHANGES THAT AFFECT DRIVING
    • ARE OLDER DRIVERS A PROBLEM AND, IF SO, WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
    • DRIVING CHARACTERISTICS OF OLDER DRIVERS
    • NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND THE OLDER DRIVER
    • CONCLUSIONS
    • REFERENCES
• APPENDIXES
  • Appendix A Workshop Materials
  • Appendix B Biographical Sketches

The study was supported by Contract No. N01-0D-4-2139, T.O. 94 between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Institutes of Health.

Suggested citation:

National Research Council. (2004). Technology for Adaptive Aging. Steering Committee for the Workshop on Technology for Adaptive Aging. Richard W. Pew and Susan B. Van Hemel, editors. Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

The views, opinions and/or findings contained in this report and papers are those of the author(s) and should not be construed as an official NIH position, policy or decision unless so designated by other official documentation.

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.