Intergenerational connectivity for promoting health and well-being across ages, places and spaces

Abstract

Introduction: healthy ageing in an increasingly digital world The expanding digitalisation of everyday life that has occurred over the past 30 years has affected all segments of society from youngest to oldest. Digital connectivity—connectedness through digital technology—is recognised as having growing importance in linking individuals to community, information and other resources. It increasingly mediates connections to material and virtual supports that are relevant to healthy ageing and reducing health inequalities in later life (De Santis et al, 2023). Xu et al (2021) highlight the implications of this trend as meaning that ‘digital technology will continue to shape the way we access health information, connect with loved ones, and stay active’ to the extent that ‘digital access has become a new social determinant of health’ (p134). Developments in eHealth promotion (Muellmann et al, 2018), for example, highlight the potential of digital applications to support those living with long-term conditions and improving and maintaining their health and well-being. Evidence is also emerging of the potential benefits of digital applications such as videogames for health on physical, cognitive and social aspects of adult, including older adult, users’ health-related quality of life (Marston and Hall, 2016).