- Introduction and overview

Introduction and overview Emerging demographic and societal trends underscore the importance of the topic of training and instructional design for older adults. These trends include: the aging of the population, rapid developments in technology and the diffusion of technology into most settings, the migration of healthcare practices from professional facilities to the home, changes in work processes and organizations, and changes in instructional practices and technologies. Generally, people of all ages, including older adults, must engage in what is commonly referred to as life-long learning in order to use new products and devices and perform tasks at work (e.g., use software applications, job procedures), at home (e.g., medical devices, communication and entertainment products), in service environments (e.g., automatic teller machines, self-service ticket kiosks at airports), and in instructional environments (e.g., online learning programs).