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Ageing Positively with Digital Games

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eHealth 360°

Abstract

Active ageing is the process of optimizing health, social participation and security in order to enhance the quality of life of older individuals. Building on the paradigm of Positive Technology, we argue that new advanced technologies may offer interesting solutions to enhance well-being in the elderly. Specifically, digital games deserve a special attention because recent studies show that the elderly are receptive towards the adoption of digital games and the number of older gamers is increasing. In the present contribution, we review the potential of digital games in enhancing positive emotions, engagement and social connectedness, and outline future challenges for research and guidelines for game designers interested in this peculiar field.

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Acknowledgments

This study has been supported by Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan (D3.2 Tecnologia Positiva e Healthy Aging - Positive Technology and Healthy Aging, 2014) and by Fondazione Cariplo (Research project Ageing and Healthy Living: A Human Centered Approach in Research and innovation as Source of Quality Life, 2014).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Gemelli 1, Milan, Italy

    Daniela Villani, Silvia Serino, Stefano Triberti & Giuseppe Riva

  2. Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy

    Silvia Serino & Giuseppe Riva

Authors
  1. Daniela Villani
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  2. Silvia Serino
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  3. Stefano Triberti
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  4. Giuseppe Riva
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniela Villani .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Informatics in mHealth, National Technical University of Athens, Zografou, Greece

    Kostas Giokas

  2. Budapest University of Technology, Budapest, Hungary

    Laszlo Bokor

  3. University of Glasgow, Glaswow, United Kingdom

    Frank Hopfgartner

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© 2017 ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering

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Villani, D., Serino, S., Triberti, S., Riva, G. (2017). Ageing Positively with Digital Games. In: Giokas, K., Bokor, L., Hopfgartner, F. (eds) eHealth 360°. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, vol 181. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49655-9_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49655-9_20

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-49654-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-49655-9

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