Assistive Technologies for Ageing in Place: A Theoretical Proposition of Human Development Postulates

As people age, they lose abilities as well as resources (e.g. social networks and income) needed to effectively use assistive technologies. Worsening crises (i.e. climate change events, infectious disease outbreaks, extreme industrialisation, and violence) can overwhelm these individuals, disrupt their use of assistive technologies, and make their ageing in place impossible. In this chapter, we propose postulates to inform research and human development programmes supporting people to use assistive technologies to age in place, especially during the crises, rather than supporting them when they are already with disabilities. We suggest that the effective use of assistive technologies for ageing in place depends on the ratio of “demands” to “resources”. Demands are ageing-laden losses such as a decline in social support from social ties and cognitive and physical ability whereas resources are facilitators (e.g. social networks and income) of technology use. For people to continue using assistive technologies into later life, their resources should ideally exceed their demands at a “vitality” state. Human development programmes can enable individuals to preserve resources over demands and maintain the use of assistive technologies for ageing in place, especially during the crises.