Understanding ICTs in Older Life: A Scope Review of ‘The Gerontologist’ and ‘Research on Aging’

Aging is an inevitable process for all human beings. Aging not only\r\naffects the personal life of individuals, but also has an impact on society as a whole:\r\na country with many elderly people is a more fragile, less innovative country,\r\nwith higher costs in terms of health and pension expenditure. In this context,\r\ninformation and communication technologies (ICT) can offer an important support\r\nin addressing some of the challenges related to ageing, improving communication\r\nbetween generations, access to information and the possibility of remaining active\r\nand involved in society, mitigating the negative effects of aging and transforming\r\nthe elderly into a resource for the community.\r\nThe complexity and importance of the topic has led different disciplines to\r\nstudy (from different points of view) the relationship between aging and the use of\r\nICT.The present study aims to investigate the theme of aging and how it is studied\r\nin relation to digital technologies from an interdisciplinary perspective. Due to\r\nthe heterogeneity of perspectives and analyses in this field of study, a careful\r\nexamination of interdisciplinary scientific journals focused on aging processes\r\nwas required. Therefore, the analysis of scientific production was focused on two\r\ninternational scientific journals: The Gerontologist and Research on Aging