Autonomy Support for Elderly People through Everyday Life Gadgets

Abstract

Research in the field of assistive technologies often claims to support their target group's autonomy. However, autonomy is mostly interpreted by the researchers and designers as independence or its meaning is not further specified. There are few studies where the users' perception and interpretation of autonomy is taken into account. Hence, technology for supporting autonomy is often rather intricate and based on a generalized notion of autonomy. We argue that autonomy contains more dimensions than just mere independence. Furthermore, we argue that the perception of autonomy is individually differing and focussing on small, individual solutions my help in shaping autonomy support on an individual level.