Project Overview

Our aim is to improve the practices of AGE-WELL members when developing technologies so that they become international leaders in ethical development and commercialization of technologies for the elderly with cognitive impairments. Persons with cognitive impairments constitute about a quarter of the aging population. They have trouble remembering, learning, concentrating or making decisions affecting everyday life. They benefit from the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) that are known as cognitive assistive technologies, because of the support they provide to independent living. However, the elderly with cognitive impairments are among the most vulnerable to privacy breaches and their use of technology raises many ethical concerns. For example, many of these individuals misunderstand who has access to the information being recorded by ICT. Currently, safety and monitoring of these individuals supersede privacy considerations. Furthermore, technology developers often lack awareness of the privacy and security regulations, and struggle with applying best practices within a sustainable business plan. We propose an Implementation of Change process, which is a knowledge mobilization process leading to improved professional practices. It is a seven-step process and this grant will fund the first two steps. We will conduct an analysis of AGE-WELL members’ security and privacy practices, and identify areas of improvements and targets for change. This will inform the next steps of the process, and lead to increased awareness of privacy and security regulations and best practices when developing ICT for persons with cognitive impairments. The team includes the AGE-WELL CC1 leads who will use the proposed project as a pilot testing of knowledge mobilization strategies among the network members. This project and the subsequent steps of the model will lead to improved practices among AGE-WELL members and beyond, and will therefore contribute to the creation of technologies that respect the privacy and security of their users.