Chronic disease-related science and technology for endowment: latest development, assessment, and prospect

Gerontechnology is an interdisciplinary field combining technology innovation and endowment service. Under the context of active aging, gerontechnology is playing an increasingly important role in preventing chronic diseases and maintaining functioning for older patients. From the perspectives of technology and social gerontology, we reviewed the published literatures to describe new and leading development of technology innovations integrating with aging service for older adults. The review concludes that gerontechnology in both developed and developing countries has been promoted rapidly in recent years; some technologies are becoming mature, which provide a technical foundation and intellectual support to aging service. Nevertheless, technology facilitating aging service for chronic disease will confront the challenges of aging-focused technical design, technological environment, medical policy, ethics and safety concerns, and cultural adaptation.