Gerontechnology: Definitions and Classification

Technology is now part of our lives and the current perception by patients and their caregivers, healthcare professionals, managers and policy makers is that a modern view of medicine includes the technologies as essential instruments both in clinical practice, i.e. assessment, management and follow-up of patients and more in general in many healthcare processes as diagnosis, prognosis, treatments, rehabilitation and prevention both at individual and at general population level. In this chapter we present an overview of the different definitions and classifications of technologies potentially useful for older people including: (i) Information and communication technologies, i.e. tools aimed at informing and communicating, including digital technologies, telehealth programs and the application of artificial intelligence in healthcare; (ii) assistive technologies designed to maintain older people’s independence and increasing safety including ambient and personal sensors and domotic devices; and (iii) human-computer interaction technologies to support treatment and rehabilitation of older people with mobility and cognitive impairments such as robots (humanoid, rehabilitation, service and companion-type robots) but also exergames and virtual reality activities and their clinical and social components.