Syracuse iSchool Ph.D. student Johanna Birkland invited presenter at international gerontechnology conference
11/6/2009
The population of America is aging rapidly, and society is just starting to feel the effects. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of people 65 and older accounts for about 13 percent of the total population. That percentage is expected to increase to nearly 20 percent by 2030. That means one in five Americans will soon belong to the stage of life called “elderhood.”
As more and more Baby Boomers reach elderhood and retire, issues surrounding health care reform and social security take on a new sense of urgency. But health care and retirement benefits are not the only issues facing the older population. Computer literacy and technology skills are also essential in today’s fast-paced, tech-driven world.
“Most people who discuss generational use of technology focus on Generation Y,” said Johanna Birkland, a doctoral candidate at the Syracuse School of Information Studies (iSchool). “In our society, older individuals who are not exposed to certain forms of technology are at risk of not getting the information they need.”
Birkland’s research focuses on older adults and their use of information and communication technologies (ICT). She considers herself a “gerontechnologist”—a scholar whose work focuses on issues of both gerontology and technology.
Recently Birkland was one of six student-scholars selected to participate in the fourth annual Master Class on Gerontechnology. The Master Class is sponsored by the International Society for Gerontechnology and will take place November 10 and 11 in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The goal of the event is to bring young scientists together with top European researchers to discuss gerontechnology issues. The theme of this year’s Master Class is “fun technology,” or making technology usage enjoyable for the older population.
Each of the selected scholars will present a poster at the Master Class and receive feedback from their peers and the top names in the field. Birkland’s poster explores the study she plans to use for her dissertation. Her poster and dissertation will investigate what types of issues impact older adults’ usage of ICT. She incorporates literature from both the information systems field and communications.
“I’m so excited about this opportunity,” Birkland said. “I’m really looking forward to meeting other new gerontechnologists. These are the people I will be working with in the future—we will be reading each other’s research and collaborating. It will be wonderful to get to know both them and their work better.”
Gerontechnology is an emerging field, and a very multidisciplinary one at that. Gerontechnology developed about a decade ago in response to the elderly’s growing needs. Now the field has its own organization (the International Society for Gerontechnology) and its own journal,
Gerontechnology.
Birkland notes that gerontechnologists like herself are interested in a broad spectrum of subjects that include health, housing, mobility, communication, and professional /workplace issues. Gerontechnologists have backgrounds in many different academic fields, such as medicine, engineering, sociology, and psychology. Gerontechnology’s diverse pool of talent is necessary in order to address the wide range of issues affecting older adults.
Not surprisingly, Birkland has a multidisciplinary background. As an undergraduate at Cornell, she studied both biology and psychology. She went on to pursue an M.S. in Communications from Ithaca College. Afterwards, she came to Syracuse University, where she completed an M.S. in Instructional Design, Development, and Evaluation. Now she is working with iSchool Associate Professor Michelle Kaarst-Brown on the generational issues surrounding ICT use.
Birkland said she first became interested in gerontechnology a couple of years ago when she realized that older people have unique challenges that don’t impact other generations.
“The older adult population is dealing with an array of issues,” Birkland said. These include adapting to new voting technology, learning to find and use digitized Medicare information, and the need for new and improved assistive devices, among others, she said.
“There’s a large opportunity out there for organizations to market goods and services to this population,” Birkland said.
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