Aging and the Digital Life Course

Across the life course, new forms of community, ways of keeping in contact, and practices for engaging in work, healthcare, retail, learning and leisure are evolving rapidly. Breaking new ground in the study of technology and aging, this book examines how developments in smart phones, the internet, cloud computing, and online social networking are redefining experiences and expectations around growing older in the twenty-first century. Drawing on contributions from leading commentators and researchers across the world, this book explores key themes such as caregiving, the use of social media, robotics, chronic disease and dementia management, gaming, migration, and data inheritance, to name a few.

David Prendergast is a social anthropologist based at Intel Labs Europe and a Principal Investigator in the Intel Collaborative Research Institute for Sustainable Connected Cities with Imperial College and University College London. He also holds the position of Visiting Professor of Healthcare Innovation at Trinity College Dublin.

Chiara Garattini is an anthropologist working as part of the Health & Life Sciences group at Intel. Previously, she worked in the field of aging, technology, independent living and chronic illnesses as postdoctoral researcher and ethnography lead at the Technology Research for Independent Living Centre, University College Dublin.