Paper short abstract:

Studies of ageing focus on the benefits of 'ageing in place' and typically overlook the ways in which new technologies make it possible for people to stay connected across distance. This paper examines mobilities and technologies as a new paradigm for reassessing approaches to healthy ageing.

Paper long abstract:

Research on ageing and on studies of new technologies have each prompted important research literatures. However, the intersections of the two remain surprisingly under-acknowledged. While current studies of 'mobile lives' investigate how social relationships are sustained across distance, they generally focus on young and middle-life adults (e.g. Gershon 2010) with little attention to the experiences of elderly people. In contrast, studies of ageing frequently focus on the benefits and requirements of 'ageing in place' (Vasulinashorn et al 2012) however, they typically overlook the ways in which new technologies make it possible for people to stay connected and remain socially engaged across distance. This paper examines mobilities and technologies as a new paradigm for reassessing approaches to healthy ageing, with a particular focus on the impact of new media on elderly migrant ties to homeland. Access to social networks and a capacity to belong with and engage with other people is emerging as particularly important, with recent research indicating that the notion of ageing in place may be putting too much emphasis on attachment to 'place', and insufficient attention to the desire to 'attach' to people (Hillcoat-Nalletamby & Ogg 2013; Wiles et al 2011). We argue that the strategies people use to maintain contact across distance are transforming the very nature of relationships and the foundations of human relatedness, inter-subjectivity, autonomy and interdependence (Madianou and Miller 2012:2; Ling 2008), including those that are the basis of the care, support and personhood of older people.