Aging in light of digitalization of healthcare

Abstract

AbstractWith the advancements in digital technologies, notions such as aging in place have gained currency. But, next to technical issues concerning the extent to which full-blown aging in place is possible, philosophical and ethical questions have been also raised. An important dimension of the digitalization of healthcare is how would aging look to both older adults and the public in the wake of such systems. In this article, I will suggest integrating postphenomenology into Age Studies to explore how aging comes to be conceptualized. An advantage of postphenomenology is that it is anchored in a first-person perspective, and in this sense, it may be a perfect fit to enhance our awareness about the impacts of the digitalization of health on older adults from their own point of view. I will also argue that postphenomenlogy can throw light on digital technologies in their actual use. This may help researchers go beyond merely exploring conditions of use and adoption implemented through notions such as usability, trust, privacy, dignity, and the like, and gain knowledge of how users’ relationship with their surroundings reconfigures after exposure to digital assistive technologies.