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Ethical challenges in aging and technology

Published: 11 July 2022 Publication History

Abstract

Innovation in the use of health-related technologies may improve access to services and social supports and help older people to be independent and healthy. Despite these benefits, the use of technology may also bring with it a number of ethical challenges and it is important to see technology as part of a complex socio-technical system. This paper discusses a number interrelated human and behavioural issues that need to be considered in the design, development and implementation of AgeTech and other health-related interventions. Specifically, ideas of disruption and unpredictability highlight the ambiguous role of technology in society and its potential to further disempower individuals and groups who may already be vulnerable and marginalized. The paper concludes by outlining a number of practical directions and steps towards ensuring ethical AgeTech.

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Cited By

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  • (2025)Investigating Contextual Factors in Technology-Based Solutions Designed to Support Health and Fitness Routines for Older Adults: A Systematic ReviewHuman-Computer Interaction. Design and Research10.1007/978-3-031-80829-6_8(161-192)Online publication date: 14-Feb-2025
  • (2024)User Perception of Smart Home Surveillance Among Adults Aged 50 Years and Older: Scoping ReviewJMIR mHealth and uHealth10.2196/4852612(e48526)Online publication date: 9-Feb-2024
  • (2023)MyCareBudget: Co-creating a Healthcare Digital Commons with and for Disabled Citizens and their Unpaid CarersProceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544548.3580934(1-16)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023

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cover image ACM Other conferences
PETRA '22: Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments
June 2022
704 pages
ISBN:9781450396318
DOI:10.1145/3529190
Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 11 July 2022

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Author Tags

  1. AgeTech Technology Older persons
  2. Disruption
  3. Ethics

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  • Research
  • Refereed limited

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  • AGE-WELL Networks of Excellence

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PETRA '22

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Cited By

View all
  • (2025)Investigating Contextual Factors in Technology-Based Solutions Designed to Support Health and Fitness Routines for Older Adults: A Systematic ReviewHuman-Computer Interaction. Design and Research10.1007/978-3-031-80829-6_8(161-192)Online publication date: 14-Feb-2025
  • (2024)User Perception of Smart Home Surveillance Among Adults Aged 50 Years and Older: Scoping ReviewJMIR mHealth and uHealth10.2196/4852612(e48526)Online publication date: 9-Feb-2024
  • (2023)MyCareBudget: Co-creating a Healthcare Digital Commons with and for Disabled Citizens and their Unpaid CarersProceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544548.3580934(1-16)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
  • (2023)Next Steps in Ethics and PolicySupportive Smart Homes10.1007/978-3-031-37337-4_12(141-157)Online publication date: 24-Sep-2023

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