Ensuring a fruitful future to innovation and research: Practical guidance for the involvement of older people in research

Abstract

Projects and policies geared towards people, especially older people and people with disabilities, should be oriented by real user needs. They are indeed critical when developing effective and efficient products, services and policies. While research and technology can continue advancing on their own, they will have very limited impact and will result in minimal - if any - benefits for society, if user involvement is not taken into consideration The collaborations between users and their representatives with industrial stakeholders, academics, policy-makers and all actors involved in developing and improving our societies can provide a thorough understanding on the benefits, challenges and different levels of user involvement. Focusing on the challenges for our ageing society, this paper's ultimate aim is to show that allowing older users to express their needs at all stages of research results in solutions that respect the principle of design-for-all and has a greater impact to society in general. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.