Living and ageing in the technological landscapes of homes and public places - an international perspective

Introduction/Scope: The increasing complexity and use of everyday technology has facilitated the performance of many daily life activities but also made them more complex and demanding (Patomella et al., 2013). Decreased perceived ability to use ET is also related to limited engagement in IADL and social activities (Nygård and Kottorp, 2014, Nygard et al., 2012). These relationships are indicators of the significance of being able to use ET for managing daily life activities, especially outside the home among older people. Recently there has been increased emphasis on accessibility and participation in public places for people with functional impairments, while little is still known of the cognitive aspects of accessibility. In order to access and use homes and public spaces (including health care services, crucial challenges are associated with technology, both everyday technology (e.g. cell phones, cash machines) and assistive technology (e.g. electronic calendars/reminders). Occupational therapy can here play a major role in supporting older people to access and use everyday technology and public spaces, but the evidence-base is still sparse how to approach, evaluate and intervene.As this area within occupational therapy also is growing internationally, the short course will address these issues also from multicultural perspectives.Specific objectives: After the short course the participant will be able to: (1) Reflect upon the influence of everyday technology in homes and public places for the target group of his/her practice, (2) Reflect upon challenges in access/use of public places and ET from a multicultural perspective , (3) Know about current international research in occupational therapy in this area, and how this can be implemented into his/her practice, and (4) Reflect upon the use of new, innovative assessments and intervention strategies to address ET use and public places, and understand how these can support evidence-based intervention planning in practice.Methods: The teaching methods will be interactive sessions based upon open-space methodology, using: (1) Introductory trigger lectures (2) Structured small group discussions/group work with feedback ((1) and (2) repeated), and (3) Final seminar/panel discussion.Practice Implication and Conclusions: The short course will be based upon the participants´ experiences, explored in a context where sharing and learning from each other is crucial. The panel members and trigger lecturers will serve as facilitators for deepening the knowledge and skills among the participants in an area where occupational therapy praxis, education, and research needs to be jointly involved, in order to use technology as means and ends to support older people to actively live and age in homes and society.