Designing Technology to Support Healthy Aging
by Wendy A. Rogers, Ph.D.
Carle Illinois College of Medicine - Innovation Grand Rounds
Friday, October 9, 2020
noon – 1:00 p.m. Hear from Dr. Rogers
1:00 – 1:30 p.m. Reflection & Dialogue
Zoom Call-in: go.illinois.edu/innovationgrandrounds
Meeting ID: 934 4096 4256 Password: 499962
Abstract: Technology advances have the potential to support healthy aging but often technologies are not designed with consideration for the interests, capabilities, limitations, needs, and preferences of older adults. My research program is specifically oriented toward developing a fundamental understanding of aging and bringing that knowledge to bear on design issues important to technology design for the support of health, enjoyment, quality of life, and safety of everyday activities of older adults. I will provide examples of research focused on support for social engagement, healthcare activities, and cognitive function. I will discuss examples of how current technologies can support healthy living (e.g., apps, mobile devices, social networking, in-home assistive technologies) as well as how our team is developing new technologies (e.g., robotics, telepresence, digital voice assistants) to enable autonomy and independence for older adults.
Biography:
Wendy A. Rogers, Ph.D., is Shahid and Ann Carlson Khan Professor of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her primary appointment is in the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health. She has an appointment in Educational Psychology and is affiliate of the Beckman Institute, Illinois Informatics Institute, Center for Social and Behavioral Science, and Discovery Partners Institute. She received her B.A. from the University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth, and her M.S. and Ph.D. from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is a Certified Human Factors Professional (BCPE Certificate #1539).
Her research interests include design for aging; technology acceptance; human-automation interaction; aging-in-place; human-robot interaction; aging with disabilities; cognitive aging; skill acquisition; and training. She is the Director of the McKechnie Family LIFE Home; Director of the Health Technology Education Program; Program Director of CHART (Collaborations in Health, Aging, Research, and Technology;); and Director of the Human Factors and Aging Laboratory.
Dr. Rogers’ research is funded by: the National Institutes of Health (National Institute on Aging) as part of the Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement (CREATE); and the Department of Health and Human Services (National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research; NIDILRR) Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers on Technologies to Support Aging-in-Place for People with Long-Term Disabilities (TechSAge) and the Center for Enhancing Neurocognitive Health, Abilities, Networks, and Community Engagement (ENHANCE).
