title: Five years of interdisciplinary research on ageing and technology: Outcomes of the Lower Saxony Research Network Design of Environments for Ageing (GAL)--an introduction to this Special Issue on Ageing and Technology.
abstract: This Special Issue of Informatics for Health and Social Care is presenting outcomes of the Lower Saxony Research Network Design of Environments for Ageing (abbreviated as GAL), probably one of the largest inter- and multidisciplinary research projects on aging and technology. In order to investigate and provide answers on whether new information and communication technologies can contribute to keeping, or even improving quality of life, health and self-sufficiency in ageing societies through new ways of living and new forms of care, GAL had been established as a five-year research project, running from 2008 to 2013. Ambient-assisted living technologies in personal and home environments were especially important. During the five years of research in GAL, more than seventy researchers from computer science, economics, engineering, geriatrics, gerontology, informatics, medicine, nursing science and rehabilitation pedagogy intensively collaborated in finding answers.
authors.affiliation: Peter L. Reichertz Institute for Medical Informatics , University of Braunschweig and Hannover Medical School, Braunschweig , Germany .
authors.forename: Reinhold
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Haux
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hein
authors.forename: Gerald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kolb
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Künemund
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eichelberg
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D005858:Germany; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D057187:Independent Living; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000379:methods*; D011788:Quality of Life
keywords: Ageing societies; ambient-assisted living; assisted living facilities; demographic change; health-enabling technologies; pervasive health care; research; smart homes