ABSTRACT
There are many ways to classify the use of information technology (IT) in aging, such as the work of Parra, who identified the following four main goals: prevention, compensation, care, and enhancement. There are many fields which consider IT and the aging population such as psychology, human motion studies, ethnographic studies, policy-making reports, human-computer interaction, and technology-oriented reviews, and of course IT is extensively used in medical diagnosis. This chapter focuses on the technologies which can be used to support older adults at every stage. It reviews the context and external drivers for the use of IT to support aging, which include: acceptability; trustworthiness; and social, economic, political, and environmental issues. Developments for the aging population can also be applicable in wider society and smart homes have the potential to contribute to "environmental, social and fiscal sustainability".
