Navigation: Home, Current Activities, Landmark Projects, Recent Projects, Doctoral Research Topics, Group Members

Current Activities

New Dynamics of Ageing Programme

New ICT-based technologies have tremendous potential to assist older people in living independently, yet although more and more older people are becoming users of such technologies they are also more likely to experience changes in their capabilities and circumstances which can subsequently limit or curtail their use. Therefore a key question for research is how to support them effectively to sustain ICT usage as their capabilities change so that they can continue to access the benefits.

Leela Damodaran and Wendy Olphert have received a pump-priming grant from the ESRC under the ‘New Dynamics of Ageing’ Programme to fund the creation of a new multi-disciplinary network which will explore and understand the factors which lie behind the transition from user to non-user, and explore potential solutions which could help to defer or even prevent this transition from occurring, with the aim of creating and submitting a substantive collaborative research proposal to the NDA programme in November 2007.

The network, “Adapting Support to Sustain Autonomy: Understanding the implications of changing capabilities for older ICT users” combines the expertise of existing research collaborations with that of product developers, technology providers and telecommunications specialists and, crucially, with older people as ICT users and their representatives to bring a powerful multi-disciplinary perspective to the research question.

Visit the NDA website: http://newdynamics.group.shef.ac.uk/

PRADSA

Wendy Olphert and Leela Damodaran are co-investigators on the AHRC funded project ‘Practical Design for Social Action’ (PRADSA), led by Sheffield Hallam University in collaboration with Loughborough University, Leeds Metropolitan University, Anglia Ruskin University, Queen Mary College, and the University of the West of England.

The research is concerned with the design and use of digital technologies in what might be termed ‘social action’ settings, or civil society. The goal is to develop and extend the capability of social action organisations to creatively design new practises by appropriating and adapting ICTs.

Local e-Government Studies

Current projects include studies of the implementation of local e-Government in the UK. This research emphasises the crucial importance of engaging citizens – especially older citizens - in the articulation of their needs and in planning and implementation of ICT developments intended for their use. In addition research is being conducted into the nature of council consultations in the community and the use and composition of citizen panels. Of special interest are the issues associated with achieving the participation of ‘hard- to- hear’ groups such as the young and ethnic minorities.