ABSTRACT
Older adults, those age 65 and older, are an understudied population in domestication research. While older adults have historically had lower rates of digital technology usage compared to younger individuals, the increasing digitalization of products, goods, and services combined with the ageing of most societies makes studying older adults’ domestication of digital technologies imperative. Prior domestication studies have often focused on how nuclear family members influence the domestication of technologies in the home. Older adults often have home and familial definitions that are different and more diverse than young or middle-aged adults. Older adult home living arrangements can encompass the spectrum from formal institutionalized care arrangements to living independently. Older adults also often have a diverse definition of family, with some older adults extending their family beyond their immediate household, incorporating individuals from multiple households and generations. Based upon the current literature reflecting older adults living arrangements and informed by a domestication study of 17 older adults in the Northeastern United States, this chapter addresses the issues, challenges, and opportunities that researchers must keep in mind when exploring older adult Information and Communication Technology (ICT) domestication. A particular focus of this chapter is how researchers can best navigate the diverse living and familial relationships older adult participants present.
