Interdisciplinary Expert Committee on Age and Technology
Objectives
The Interdisciplinary Expert Committee on Age and Technology was founded at the congress of the German Society for Gerontology and Geriatrics in Stuttgart in September 2016 and currently has around 70 members from all sections of the German Society for Gerontology and Geriatrics. Its establishment was primarily motivated by the sharp increase in research on age and technology, but also by the growing importance of this field for quality of life in old age. The Presidium of the German Society for Gerontology and Geriatrics aims to obtain insights and recommendations from the committee's findings that will help to shape this socially significant segment of gerontological research and application and to further develop it for the benefit of older people. The expert committee also aims to influence the German Society for Gerontology and Geriatrics as a whole. Another particularly interesting element of the expert committee's work is the exploration of cooperation between gerontological research and interested and committed companies. Ultimately, the aim is to establish funding guidelines for research on assistance systems for older people.
The committee pursues the following objectives:
- Continuous reflection on the topic of age and technology and production of corresponding statements.
- Support and promotion of networking among stakeholders in the field of age and technology, especially multidisciplinary involvement, e.g. of IT designers and engineers as well as other experts from the field of technology in the relevant gerontological discussions. This also includes contacts and coordination with neighbouring gerontological societies in Switzerland and Austria,
- Implementation of workshops and conferences on the topic of age and technology.
Promoting and consolidating ongoing research in this field in Germany (e.g. organising special sections in the ZGG - Journal of Gerontology and Geriatrics; Hans-Werner Wahl is also editor of the ZGG for the topic of ageing and technology).
Activities
- Two detailed letters to the members of the committee in October and December. Objectives: Motivating members to participate in the committee, commenting on the position paper on age and technology of the German Society for Gerontology and Geriatrics, planning an agenda for the committee.
- Creation of a special section for the ZGG (Journal of Gerontology and Geriatrics) on the topic of ‘Technology for vulnerable older people and their relatives: possibilities and limitations’; we generated the articles from the Age and Technology Committee (the concept has already been accepted by the ZGG editorial board, and the articles are currently undergoing review).
- Coordination with the REHAB trade fair in Karlsruhe; contribution with four presentations on the topic of ‘Technical assistance systems as aids for people with disabilities: impulses from ageing and technology research’ (scheduled for 11 May 2017).
- Negotiations with the REHAB trade fair regarding the participation of the German Society for Gerontology and Geriatrics in the AAL Congress in October 2018.
- Start of planning for a workshop-style conference of the committee, expected to take place in November 2017 in Freiburg (C. Kricheldorff).
- Hans-Werner Wahl as representative of the German Society for Gerontology and Geriatrics at the workshop ‘Health Care Technologies for Older Adults: Design, Adoption, Implementation and Training Issues’ (23-24 February 2017, University of Miami, Florida); objective: to establish cooperation between the German Society for Gerontology and Geriatrics and CREATE (e.g. exchange programme for doctoral students/postdoctoral researchers).
Announcement
Position paper of the Committee on Age and Technology now online
It took several attempts and some time, but the position paper, to which many members of the Committee on Age and Technology contributed, is finally online. The long version is available at https://fa-alter-technik.de/positionspapier-des-fa/ on our homepage of the Committee on Age and Technology, which is already familiar from our two conferences. In addition, there is also a short version which is still being discussed with the Executive Committee and will hopefully be published as a statement by the professional association.
The Spokesperson Group of the Committee on Age and Technology
Healthcare and care for older people in the future
Background:
The Active Ageing Agentur – Frameworking for Future (https://activeagingagentur.de/) has launched many good initiatives and interesting activities in the few years since it was founded. These include a regular series of events at the Glashaus, a community centre in the Rieselfeld district of Freiburg. In connection with the publication of the 8th Ageing Report, I was invited to give a lecture there, which had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, an interview was recorded in my living room, which will not only be posted on the agency's homepage, but is also available on YouTube via the link above, significantly expanding the circle of users. We in the speakers’ group of the Committee on Age and Technology agreed that we wanted to share these links with members of the German Society for Gerontology and Geriatrics on the homepage.
1st Conference of the Working Group on Age and Technology of the German Society for Gerontology and Geriatrics
in conjunction with the closing conference of the ZAFH-AAL
17 to 18 November 2017, Freiburg
Documentation of keynote speeches
Documentation of Symposium 1
Documentation of Symposium 2
Documentation of Symposium 3