Older Persons, Digital Products, and Standards: The Need for Consumer Protection and Support for Continuous Learning of Older Persons

Abstract

This chapter addresses the need to help older persons adjust to the digital age and describes major challenges that aging persons as well as persons of all ages have to face in light of today’s virtual realities. The author proposes how to best facilitate and support older persons coping strategies and how they can obtain and maintain adequate digital literacy and ability to use existing digital resources. The chapter describes the hidden costs of the digital age for older persons and offers six solutions to how these digital challenges could best be overcome from individual, social, and public policy perspectives.