GLPH 385 - Quiz 2

Global View of Gerontechnology: Central and Western Europe

"... The group of seniors living alone appears to be the most vulnerable in terms of income insufficiency." This may mean that these older adults do not have the funds to buy gerontechnology.

Relationships & Meaning: Communitarian Anthropology

"...human beings are viewed as social beings: relations with others belong to the essentials of what it is to live a human life."

Relationships & Meaning: Liberal Anthropology

"Perceives human beings as primarily individuals, who relate to each other by contract and negotiations, motivated by self-interest. The other person has an instrumental value, and can appear as a friend, a competitor or even an enemy."

Artificial Companionship

- A caring relationship with another person or non-human animal is reciprocal and gives rise to an interplay of actions and reactions from both. The other (be it animal or human) reacts genuinely to the things we say or do. - A robot's reactions are programmed, making them insincere. - However, both robot pets and humanoid robots have value for entertainment, and/or monitoring of the living space and/or the older adult. They can also be facilitated to interact with friends and family, (calls or emails), which is also of value.

Mixing and Matching: Anti-Aging

- A hybrid approach to aging is to mix anti-aging techniques with those that enhance aging -- particularly important now since aging is inevitable - For example, an older adult could be supported to engage in activities that encourage neurogenesis such as exercise as well as encouraging the use of surgery to enhance function (e.g. hip replacement).

The Social Determinants of Health

- Aboriginal Status - Disability - Early life - Education - Employment & conditions - Food insecurity - Access to health services - Gender/sex - Housing - Income & distribution - Race & culture - Social exclusion - Social safety net - Unemployment & job security - Climate change

RoboPets

- Advanced animatronics that have been suggested as a substitute 'pet' for those who may have difficulty taking care of a living pet - Designed to endear themselves to humans, and to behave in ways that suggest that they are 'alive' - Referred to with the pronouns she & he, encouraging consumers to talk about them as if they are living beings

Convenient Gerontechnology: Apps

- Applications downloaded to an older adult's smartphone provides a quick and convenient method for the older adult to stay connected with family and to receive both social and medical supports electronically

AAL Systems

- Are comprised of various sensors that use artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze behaviour and compare it to established patterns, identify divergences, and call caregivers as needed.

Wearables for GPS Tracking

- Are specifically designed to track the location of older adults - Costly and often include monthly fees - Aim to ensure the monitoring is done without relying on the older adult to remember to carry the tracker - Help reassure both family and caregivers as to an older adult's whereabouts - Concerns about privacy issues GPS Smart Sole - Tracks an older adult's location through a rechargeable Bluetooth shoe sole insert - Sends location updates every five minutes to anyone who has the application on a mobile device and has synced the insert to the application - Helps to ensure the monitoring is done without relying on the older adult to remember to carry the tracker GPS Tracking Apps - Allow caregivers to keep an eye on their loved ones when they are out and about, helping to ensure their safety - GPS trackers specifically designed for older adults puts an emphasis on functions that enhance safety, including emergency notifications and health metrics

Ethical and Privacy Concerns with Wearable Devices

- Being monitored 24/7 can create a sense of hypervigilance in many people, regardless of their age. - Monitoring an older adults through AAL or wearables can be interpreted as threatening older adults' autonomy. - Threat of data being leaked or sold, malicious hacking, or sensitive health information being available to the provider or partner companies.

VR for Older Adults: Benefits

- Combats isolation of older adults by providing images of the world outside of their immediate environment and enabling the user to form new relationships through shared VR experiences - New research has begun to observe a link between the use of VR and an increase in cognitive function in older adults living with Alzheimer's - The use of VR may help increase balance and improve spatial awareness and navigation - Being able to improve spatial awareness and navigation through VR is particularly exciting as the older adult does not have to be in standing position to increase these skills

Justice

- Contemporary bioethics cannot limit itself to how, and under what conditions, new scientific developments may be applied, but must also confront the questions whether these developments contribute to a more just world - Treatments that exist but are not available to everyone raise questions of distributive justice - The efforts to prolong life, therefore, ought not to be separated from the more fundamental questions relating to integrity

Longevity Economy

- Currently estimated to be worth trillions of dollars, which, alongside the desire to invest in the welfare of this demographic, creates an incentive for the development of new services and technologies aimed at older adults - The total sum of all economic activity that results from the needs of American over the age of 50

Privacy and Body Area Networks/Embodied Technologies

- Data from the on-body, embedded, and ambient technologies (in BANs) are collected in the cloud - This data is then available for use to monitor health related data (e.g bp, heart rate), to track location, and to ascertain activities - In the future, body data containing multitudes of BANs might connect personal data from hundreds, thousands, or maybe millions of devices. - Intra-body communication uses signals to send data from one device to another within the body. However, information is transferred and used without the user's specific knowledge of what data is being utilized and usually without their ability to edit the data that is shared. - By agreeing to the wearing or implanting of a device, the user loses their rights to control their own data.

Embodied Computing Technology and their Unintended Consequences

- Disruptive embodied computing technology is being proposed that will create remotely monitored networked human bodies -- which raises issues in terms of personal privacy, human agency, creativity, consent, social connection, cultural values, and ethics -- including those surrounding the unintended consequences of early-phase embodied technologies that may arise in the future - Possibility that data harvested from these always on/always attached devices is being fed to military and police databases and/or marketing and/or hackers/phishers/the darkweb/other criminal activity for exploitation

Embodied Computing

- Embodied computer components include those that are carried, worn, implanted, ingested, or ambiently interfacing with the body, all of which are a data source for harvesters - Some embodied computing is done by choice -- you decide if you want to use a smartphone or wear a smart device - Ambient technology observes you and your data collection by technology that surrounds you and through third party apps that are embedded in apps we download for other purposes - If this is combined with data harvested information from your bank or credit card or points along with smart watch data temperature, heart rate, activity levels, etc. -- a fully developed picture emerges of who you are, what you are doing, and even who you are with

Socio-Philosophical Implications of Longevity: Meaning

- Engagement in activities that give satisfaction and happiness results in a more meaningful life - "What we basically seek as human beings is not more time to live, but meaningful experiences"

Enhanced Aging to Address the 'Symptoms' of Aging

- Enhanced aging strategies are intended to address changes in functionality, (i.e. yoga or Tai Chi are commonly used to maintain or improve mobility). - Healthy eating, nutrigenomics, and calorie restriction are all strategies that can enhance aging by improving nutritionally aggravated symptoms and by encouraging neurogenesis. Common steps used to enhance aging and promote healthy aging: - Remain physically active - Change diet by reducing caloric intake and adding fruits and vegetables - Moderate use of alcohol - Cease tobacco use - Build and maintain support systems and close friendships - Manage stress - Seek meaning and maintain a sense of purpose

Canada's Changing Population

- Experiencing a shift towards a larger proportion of older adults. This is accompanied by more people living longer, healthier lives. - Many older adults are looking at technology to help them live independently and as actively as possible.

Aging in Place for First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Peoples: Canada

- First Nations, Metis, and Inuit populations are at a high risk of overall poor health outcomes as a result of historical and structural injustices. - For these populations, safe housing, safe/clean water, adequate health care, and education are a higher priority than introducing gerontechnology. - The use of gerontechnology may be hampered by geography, limited economic resources, or the intergenerational impacts of systemic oppression that may create a reluctance to engage with healthcare in ways that include surveillance and threats to self-determination.

Gerontechnological Solutions for Aging in Place

- For older adults to age in place, they need to be safe in their homes in case of an emergency and they need to be able to live in their homes. - Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) systems and Smart Home devices can assist with these functions. They are designed to support independence and to reduce reliance on other people, especially for those living alone. - These systems are a subset of Internet of Things (IoT) enabled technologies which connect home device through cloud platforms to provide real-time feedback to users, manufacturers, and third parties.

Wearable Devices: Fitness Trackers

- For older adults, fitness trackers support healthy behaviour in exactly the same way as younger adults. (i.e. counting steps, measuring workout intensity, tracking their sleep pattern, and avoiding sedentary behaviour. Wristband - Designed specifically for older adults - Have sensors, AI, and monitor sleeping and eating habits and record data 24/7 - If any sort of change is detected, it is relayed to the caregiver - This is a surveillance device, providing feedback and surveillance data to the caregivers and not to the older adult. - All of the data collected is stored on its cloud platform and can be shared with a medical professional in real-time, 24 hours a day.

Reflecting on Emerging Gerontechnology

- Gerontechnologies are constantly evolving and researchers may be slow to test their efficacy. - Many products claim to be supported by research, but are in fact unfounded in their claim that they can make a difference in mobility, memory, independence, etc. - It is important to consider whether the technology developed is driven by a desire to capitalize on the market represented by older adults or to meet a need.

Gerontechnologies: Empowerment or Control?

- Gerontechnology can be used to both empower and control the lives of older adults. - When an older adult is aging in place, they must also consider the technologies available to them and how these can affect their day-to-day lives.

Social Participation through Technology

- Gerontechnology can play a role in helping to combat social isolation in older adults - Most technology is focused on connecting older adults with friends and/or family or volunteers who will spend time with them - Important to consider older adults as contributors to society and find ways to use technology to support their continued participation in society

Smart Home Devices

- Google Home and Amazon Alexa - The device is voice activated and can be linked to wifi-capable appliances to create a smart home system, providing autonomy for those facing challenges to independent living - Can take place of caregivers for tasks like adjusting the thermostat, lights, or setting reminders for things like taking medications

Socio-Philosophical Implications of Anti-Aging Technology: Embodied Technology

- Has the potential to extract data or is specifically designed for that purpose - This data can be combined with data from other implanted technology or even data from our phones, tablets, and smart household technology. - These data sources, once combined, create an unprecedented and accurate view of an individual's life.

Relationships & Meaning

- Human lives and meaningfulness are experienced in large part through relationships - Close relationships with family and friends and broader relationships in schools, workplaces, societies, and even as part of the global community give vital feelings of connection and meaning

Anti-Aging Technology for Disease Prevention

- If the goal of anti-aging is the less controversial 'disease prevention' rather than 'life extension', then anti-aging technology could be considered a mainstream necessity rather than controversial (and potentially elitist). Examples of emerging technologies that can be used for disease prevention: - Robotics can be used for surgical procedures to improve accuracy - Advances in technology -- assisted rehabilitation to augment neuroplasticity during recovery periods after a stroke can be accelerated through the use of exoskeleton robotics - Artificial intelligence is being applied to diagnose and treat ailments and diseases using algorithms - Technology to prevent or automatically report falls, accidents, or acute medical conditions in order to provide a life-saving medical response is currently being developed and implemented

VR for Older Adults: Limitations

- Important that the product does not pretend to be real - Some experts have expressed concerns that it may be unethical to try to make people believe that they are actually interacting with family or back in their family home - VR can be expensive for some older adults or long term facilities to purchase - Even when it is available, some older adults may be uninterested in engaging with VR technology - not because it is 'technology' but because it is not real and they don't want to play 'let's pretend'.

Global View of Gerontechnology

- Important to consider the global implications of these technological developments as not every country has equitable access to gerontechnology

Socio-Philosophical Implications of Longevity: Social Values

- Life-extending therapies are, and must always be, life-saving therapies and must share whatever priority life saving has in your morality and in social values

Gerontechnologies: Control

- Locking doors to keep them inside - Surveillance -- Watching older adults through the camera lens - Listening to them - Tracking their location via GPS

Technology Use Among Older Adults

- Majority of older adults are using their technology to maintain social connections, find information, and for entertainment

Gerontechnologies: Empowerment

- Making tasks like getting up or down the stairs easier - Turning the lights on or off - Monitoring heart rates and/or respiration - Preventing the stove from being left on to avoid accidental fires

Socio-Philosophical Implications of Anti-Aging Technology: 'Free' Apps or Services

- Many 'free' apps or services are embraces, ignoring the well known reality that 'free' technology means your data is the price your pay - Tradeoff between a vague uneasiness stemming from the understanding that personal data is being harvested with the fact that you don't have to pay for an app or game - Is the price still worth it when the technology you are embracing is harvesting data from within your own body or an older adult that you care about?

Age-Tech Services: Services Purchased by Older People

- Many forms of age-tech purchased by older adults are inexpensive, require little-to-no assembly, and are easy to learn. - Other forms are less accessible due to difficulty of use and expense. Automatic Pill Dispenser - Sort and dispense daily doses - Many have audible and visual reminders and some type of locking mechanism that keep pills safe until it's time to take them. Home Digitization - Refers to the addition of devices and subscription services, such as voice-first technology, which can act as an in-home assistant.

Emotional Analysis and Loss of Privacy

- Many of these technologies are intended to provide an interactive, emotionally responsive experience, involving data collection for emotion analysis. - Protecting the privacy of emotional data can be a concern, since social robots (including robopets) collect data on the user's emotions and social patterns, as well as other data through various sensors. - This sensitive data is stored on the social robot and in "the cloud"; facing the challenge of securely protecting the data which is scattered in the multiple locations. - Many people do not want their deepest feelings recorded and vulnerable to exploitation - either through the robot itself or unintended uses of the data.

Hacking Traditional Supportive Technology

- Many traditional supportive technologies are being "hacked" to improve aging in place - Recent developments in technology with gerontechnology application include wheelchairs with a standing position, enabling users to mobilize body parts and provide physical and mental health benefits - UPnRIDE Robotics has created a wheeled robotic device which provides both upright and seated mobility for people who have any difficulty standing or walking and wish to stay mobile

Anti-Aging

- Market-driven field that often focuses on female aging -- suggesting that the alteration of the female body to fit youthful ideals is in fact 'normal' and should be pursued - Anti-aging movement shows older adults as active, involved, and modern to counter the stereotype of decrepit old age - Anti-aging practices aim to disrupt the natural course of senescence with the goal of "painless functionality and timeless performance". - The responsibility to prevent aging is typically placed on older adults, making the presence or absence of disease essentially up to them, with the expectation that they will 'take care' of themselves -- and the corollary that if an older adult becomes ill it is due to some lack of care on their part.

Socio-Philosophical Implications of Longevity: Relationships

- Meaningful relations with others are essential to living a human life - Extension of biological age is only valuable if it also extends our life as communal beings, resulting in longer, meaningful relations

Socio-Philosophical Implications of Longevity

- Natural life span varies, influenced by social determinants of health and the country where you live -- including access to health care, clean water, and healthy food - Extending beyond the average is influenced by many factors including justice, relationships, meaning, and social values

Gerontechnology: The Influence of Social Determinants of Health - Lower Education

- Often associated with lower income, lower education can also result in reduced opportunities to interact with technology. - This can result in the lack of utilization due to an inability to pay for gerontechnology or disinterest in adoption due to lack of familiarity.

Gerontechnology: The Influence of Social Determinants of Health

- Older adults are a heterogenous group with varied characteristics and needs, who use, modify, and interact with technologies in rather diverse ways. - When they are introduced to gerontechnology, such as voice-first technology, their level of engagement may reflect social determinants of health rather than individual personality differences.

Convenient Gerontechnology: Rideshare Apps

- Older adults are increasingly turning to rideshare apps to allow them to independently manage their transportation - Ridesharing apps are used for social visits with friends and family, leisurely outings, or to increase physical activity - They can also be used for medical appointments, where drivers actually attend appointments or help with grocery shopping

Aging in Place: Social Connection through Technology

- Older adults may experience loneliness or social isolation despite being healthy, independent, and able to age in place relatively incident free - Gerontechnology can help address feelings of social isolation in both traditional and non-traditional ways

Convenient Gerontechnology: Apps for Older Adults and Caregivers

- Provides services such as playing pre-recorded reminders and messages - People living with Alzheimer's have apps that can show photos of familiar people and places, play recognizable music, and provide a night light Examples of apps that aid older adults and their caregivers: - Honor: Enables caregivers to communicate with families, exchange notes, and ask/answer questions - Ask Mervee: Allows people to send a message to friends/family requesting visits, getting messages from others, or just letting people know that they are doing okay - Ask My Buddy: Can send an alert to a list of people through a smart speaker - Life Pod: Reminds them to take their medication or drink water or it will play music for them

Aging in Place

- Refers to a person's ability to continue living independently at home and/or in their community and is supported/facilitated through the provision of necessary supports and services. - Majority of older adults prefer to live their lives at home, in a community they know and are known in. They want to be near places where their memories were made. - Enables older adults to continue to participate in their community.

Age-Tech Services: Service for Future Older People

- Reflects the reality that preparing for a healthy old age begins very early in life - Issues such as childhood obesity and activity levels will impact the aging reality far into the future - Many future older people already use technology like smart watches and other wearable technology to promote healthy activity and/or monitor risk factors for future illness.

Examples of Anti-Aging Intervention

- Research has demonstrated that, at least in the lab, genetic, pharmacological, and other interventions can slow aging in various species from yeast to non-human primates. 1) Nutrients - Nutrient signalling pathways have been activated to turn on endogenous repair and rejuvenation pathways 2) Metformin - Metformin (a diabetes drug) appears to activate aging-related nutrient signalling pathways 3) Inflammation Reduction - Senescent cells have been eliminated by reducing damaging inflammation 4) Stem Cells - Stem cells can be rejuvenated by infusion with healthy stem cells (at least, in the laboratory)

Convenient Gerontechnology: Apps to Aid with Visual Impairment

- RightHear is a system developed by a company in Israel for visually impaired users specifically for indoor places - This system contains three components: a phone app, Bluetooth-powered beacons (sensors) that are pre-installed at the location, and the management platform - Venues are subscribers, and buildings and locations are pre-mapped and installed with RightHear sensors and the information is uploaded to the app which narrates the surroundings and navigates the user. - The free app tracks the movements of the user and issues real-time voice prompts and warnings.

Anti-Aging and Enhancing Aging Bodies

- Senescence is the part of 'normal' aging that anti-aging and enhanced aging techniques seek to counter - Ageism drives the debate about the financial and ethical "burdens" of aging bodies to the healthcare system. However, anti-aging has emerged as a popular movement for promoting activity, mobility, and lifestyle choice to counter traditional images of decline and decrepitude. - Anti-aging is based on the biomedical model, suggesting that medical techniques can prevent the aging process from occurring, or at minimum slow it, because aging is considered 'undesirable' - Enhanced aging is not necessarily about slowing or stopping aging, instead it focuses on painless functionality and timeless performance.

Age-Tech Services: Services Traded Between Older and Younger People

- Services available that connect both young and older adults for programs that may be beneficial to both Vocational Mentoring - Many older adults have skills and expertise that they are willing to share with younger people, sometimes in exchange for common household chores. Supported Co-Living - In cities where many older people are living alone, some services aim to pair up older adults with young students in shared accommodations. - Examples: Generations United in the USA and a funded partnership between the National Initiative for the Care of the Elderly and the City of Toronto matching post-secondary students with older adults willing to rent their unused space for the academic year.

Social Values

- Social norms in most groups are based on the idea that, where possible, lives should be saved - When you translate the social norm of saving lives to life-extending therapies, many would claim that "you would have a moral imperative to save the life when possible, because failure to do this would make you responsible for the resulting death."

Social Robots: ElliQ

- Social robots are also aimed at reducing loneliness by creating an interactive environment and proactively suggesting prompts based on daily activities of the user - Introduce movement and responsiveness - Have the same capabilities as voice-first technology, but also have a screen and a personified figure that moves - Features of ElliQ 1) Designed to respond to humans and the environment 2) Contains two important elements, the body and the screen, which allows this piece of age-tech to perform both technological and social functions 3) ElliQ body performs social functions and can move the 'head' up and down when 'excited' and hangs the 'head' to express 'sadness'. It also engages, 'looking' at pictures that come in, responding to the user's voice. 4) ElliQ Screen performs technological functions and helps users read and respond to messages, share pictures, make appointments, and remember to take medications.

Anti-Aging as Disease Prevention

- Some researchers suggest that the socio-philosophical issues associated with radical life extension could be avoided if the techniques used to extend life are actually considered disease prevention. - If this type of disease prevention could be combined with prevention of molecular damage then theoretically it might be able to prevent the emergence of senescent cells or dysfunctional mitochondria, which contribute to a feedback loop of damage and dysfunction.

Reasoning to Support RoboPets

- Stroking or interacting with a robot pet can help sooth agitation, promote social interactions, and provide a sense of comfort - Jennie, the robopet developed by Tombot, is designed to manipulate human emotions to stimulate the production of oxytocin - stimulating the attachment that people feel when they are bonded to a companion animal or human child

Reasoning Against RoboPets

- Study shows that the vast majority of people would choose a live pet, and a few said that they would rather have no pet at all. - When asked "why?", they said that "It is not about the companionship alone. It is about the emotional connection. To get that from a robotic creation is not love. We need love that comes with these pets." - Older adults want to connect with other people and giving them primitive, fake, inanimate, and non-emotional robots to interact with is a cruel thing that should not be done.

Human-Animal Bond and RoboPets

- The human-animal bond provides health benefits to both humans and animals based on reciprocity: the human provides love and care to the animal and the animal in turn shows appreciation and affection to the human. - Research suggests that most animal lovers would rather have nothing than replace their dog or cat with a robot pet. However, many manufacturers, including Tombot have been clear that the robot is intended to comfort and entertain, like a responsive stuffed toy, not to pretend to be a real animal.

Ethical Considerations and Other Concerns

- The use of surveillance that involves cameras and voice monitoring equipment are quickly becoming common in the home environment, which can raise privacy concerns among older adults. - For example, if a person in a watched environment engages in singing, dancing, intimacy, or crying and then realizes that family members or caregivers can see and hear them, they may less likely to engage in these activities, which may negatively impact their well-being.

Wearable Devices

- Using wearable devices or wearables is considered to be the point where humans begin to physically, and consistently, interact and integrate electronics, software, and sensors on the body (IoT) Examples of Wearable Devices: - Fitness trackers - Smart watches - Body sensors - Smart glasses - Body cameras - Smart Clothing and accessories - Virtual reality headsets

Age-Tech Services: Service Purchased on Behalf of Older Adults

- Variety of services that can be purchased on behalf of older adults who require extra support while aging in place. - May be purchased on behalf of an older adult by an agency or by family or friends. May also be purchased by older adults themselves. Meal Services - Meal delivery services, such Meals on Wheels (MoW) can be purchased online or over the phone and will be delivered to the recipient's door. MoW delivers affordable and nutritious meals to members of the community who are unable to prepare their own food. - Programs primarily marketed to busy, health-conscious, professionals, are also an option for older adults. Home Care Services - Home care is care that allows a person with special needs to stay in their home. - Provide assistance with activities of daily living for people with chronic illness or who are recovering from surgery. - Are personal care services including help with bathing, washing hair, or getting dressed.

Virtual Reality for Older Adults

- Virtual reality is an emerging technology that can stimulate reality or create a fantasy world. - Gerontechnology has adopted the use of VR to maintain or improve functioning with age. - The company Rendever creates VR for older adults by using algorithms to convert their own photos to 360 degrees panoramic experiences which help people to relive some of their favourite memories

Voice-Activated Technology

- Voice-activated technology associated with Smart Home devices can automate many appliances in the house. - Since they are connected to the internet, they can be used for the social functions of smartphones with a highly sophisticated voice interface. - The ease of this interface relative to screen devices may encourage use among older adults, making them tools to combat social isolation. - Studies show that the majority of older adults provided with voice-activated technology engage with it daily and over 70% said it helped them to feel more connected to family Social Uses - Voice-activated home devices can help older adults remain social by: 1) Providing assistance with tasks like making calls, sending emails and texts, reminding them when to take medications, letting them know the weather or sports scores, and reading audio books to them 2) Enabling family members to update to-do lists and prompt for updates 3) Sending reminders to family members as well as updates on the older adults it is living with

Enhance 'Natural' Aging

- When we aspire to enhance natural aging we have to acknowledge the heterogeneity in human experience, as well in physical condition, and accept that not every life will be enhanced in the same way or to the same effect, that all we can hope to do is improve the quality of the 'normal' lifespan and compress morbidity. Goals of Enhanced Aging - Good quality of life - Achieving the best possible health and mobility for that individual - Compressed morbidity -- Reducing the length of time a person spends sick or disabled prior to the end of life.

Robot Dog Features

1) Interactive Sensors - Wags the tail and leans into a hand when patted - Intended to look 'cute' and have a realistic appearance - The touch sensors allow it to react to you based on how and where it is being touched 2) Voice Commands - Voice activation software allows the 'Puppy' to react to your commands 3) Smartphone App - Allow you to name your 'Puppy', customize functionality, and track user interactions with it on a day to day basis - As the robopet ages and is 'trained', the app can be used to change the robot's abilities by adding new actions and commands

Social Values

A set of moral principles defined by societal, institutional, and cultural beliefs

Social Isolation

A state of complete or near-complete lack of contact between an individual and society

Biogerontechnology

A subfield within gerontechnology that focuses on the biological process of aging

Age-Tech

A term mostly used by investors, entrepreneurs, corporations, and social-impact groups to refer to the intersection of digital innovation and longevity. Age-Tech is about digitally-enabling the Longevity Economy.

Aging in Place for First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Peoples: USA

Aging in place within Native American, Metis, and Inuit communities is limited by: - A lack of adequate healthcare on land under the sovereignty of Native American, Metis, and Inuit peoples. - Higher rates of chronic diseases (which make aging in place more challenging) among Native American, Metis, and Inuit older adults when compared to the general population of the USA.

Anti-Aging or Enhanced Aging -- What's the Difference?

Anti-Aging - Focused on preventing the appearance of getting older and other age related changes - Involves the medicalization of the bodily changes that occur with aging that are then 'treated' (e.g. surgical 'repair' to remove wrinkles, testosterone or estrogen supplementation, etc.) Enhanced Aging - Focused on improving the quality of life during a 'natural' lifespan - May lead to an extended lifespan due to access to better nutrition, mobility assistance, and maintenance of meaning and purpose, but an extended lifespan is not the goal.

Gerontechnology: The Influence of Social Determinants of Health - Lack of Income

Can be a barrier, which means that some older adults do not have the opportunity to purchase gerontechnology. Since they can't afford to buy it, they don't learn to use it effectively.

Internet-Based Gerontechnology: Volunteer Services

Canadian Red Cross - Hosts a Friendly Visiting program, which works to reduce social isolation by offering one-on-one, personal visits - A trained volunteer visits older adults for an hour at once every two week to chat, play a game, do a craft, or discuss the news Bergen Volunteers - An older adults organization that offers various services to older adults in Bergen county, New Jersey. - This includes: CHORE, a program that provides handyperson services (often older adults helping older adults) to do tasks like installing grab bars, replacing outlets, repairing leaky faucets, etc. and CHEER, where volunteers provide companionship by weekly visits to homebound older adults

Traditional Gerontechnologies

Cell phones, tablets, and other technologies that facilitate human contact can be used to connect or for travel

Senescent Cells

Cells that can no longer undergo cellular division, and have the potential to cause damage to nearby cells.

Socio-Philosophical Implications of Longevity: Justice

Differential access to adequate healthy food, clean water, employment, as well as the impact of HIV/AIDS all contribute to unequal opportunities for longevity

Justice, Aging, and Embodied Technologies

Embodied Technologies and Older Adults - Aging people can be vulnerable to the implantation of embodied technologies without fully understanding the data amalgamation from various technologies into eHealthcare Systems - Aging persons are usually left out of the conversation regarding development and risk being further marginalized by these products; despite being users they are not brought in as co-designers

Global View of Gerontechnology: India

Gerontechnology initiatives focuses on implementing telehealth to extend health services to distant territories, thereby enhancing accessibility, affordability, and quality of healthcare services.

Justice: Distribution of Resources

Given that there are countries where there is the risk of dying at what other countries consider 'mid-life' (could be saved by simple low-tech solutions), how do we justify pouring billions of dollars into extending the lives of the oldest old and ignoring the needs of these people dying young?

Justice: Unequal Death

Given the problem of unequal death, can we morally afford to invest in research to extend life?

Surveillance of Older Adults

Includes monitoring behaviour and/or activities for the purpose of allowing caregivers and family members to ensure that they are made aware of any changes in the older adult's activity.

Gerontechnology: The Influence of Social Determinants of Health - Lack of Skills

Low engagement level may be a result of a lack of skills and familiarity with technology. This may be a cohort effect (e.g. technologies were developed after they left school and/or the workforce) or due to their socioeconomic backgrounds.

Global View of Gerontechnology: Canada

Older adults in Canada express an interest in smart doorbells, locks, and thermostats, as well as bed, chair, and motion sensors that could send loved ones or caregivers notices for events such as if they slip or fall.

Anti-aging Centres

Places where research and development is currently being done and services/products are offered

Ethics of Age-Related Use of Technology

Questions to Consider 1) What are the overall benefits, and how will those benefits be distributed? 2) What is the likely effect on health inequality, and would alternative ways of using resources affect inequality differently? 3) How should we balance increases in wellbeing against increases in inequality where these occur? 4) How should we balance different values when they come into conflict? - The first two questions should be answered considering the research and development of the technology, therapeutics, etc. We must also consider the social structure and make-up of each society because new treatments and interventions impact health unequally, influenced by socioeconomic status, education and the existence of advanced healthcare systems and may vary with existing levels of inequality and systems of governance and welfare provisions. - The latter two questions are moral, ethical concerns which need to be addressed equally in each culture.

Non-Traditional Gerontechnologies

Robots and voice-first technology (Alexa and ElliQ) can be used to connect loved ones

AAL Surveillance Systems and Acceptance

Stigma - Many older adults express that there is a stigma attached to living with surveillance in the most private aspects of their lives Loss of Human Contact - Older adults are concerned that they utilization of technology for monitoring will result in less human-to-human contact Loss of Privacy - Privacy violations may occur when a connected device informs a family member that the adult is engaged in activity that they want to keep private (e.g. sexual or other personal activities)

Wearables

Technology worn on the body that records data such as physical data, physiological data, and/or heart rate, blood pressure, and user-inputed data

Senescence

The condition or process of deterioration with age.

Global View of Gerontechnology: Japan

The government has invested in the use of social robots to assist with an aging population yet face shortages of care workers for the elderly.

Body Area Networks: Body Data Communities

The idea that the data from on, in, and around our bodies is combined with data from other embodied networks within our communities -- at the micro-level (families or smaller friend networks) or at the macro-level (our neighbourhood, cultural community, or colleagues at work or at school). - Combining data from embodied computing in a community could provide unprecedented information about ourselves and our communities, exposing vulnerabilities that are already inherent in the social determinants of health that could be leveraged to serve public health initiatives or maintain inequities.

Internet of Things (IoT)

The interconnection via the internet of computing devices embedded in everyday objects, enabling them to send and receive data.

Socio-Philosophical Implications of Anti-Aging Technology

The rush to enhance, improve, and extend life leaves complex sociotechnical tradeoffs unaddressed, including privacy and data ownership

Gerontechnology

The study of biological, psychological, and sociological aspects of aging.

Ageism

The systematic stereotyping of, and discrimination against, people because they are old.

Body Area Networks: Around the Body

This is technology that surrounds us, including sensors and sensor networks, pervasive computing, and artificial intelligence that are sensitive and responsive to the presence of living things (humans and/or non-human animals)

Body Area Networks: In the Body

This is technology that we choose to implant or ingest -- the pacemakers, neural implants, ingestible sensors

Body Area Networks: On the Body

This is technology that we choose to wear or carry -- smartphones, watches, glasses