Inclusive living

Meet our experts

Dr Matthew Lariviere

Dr Matthew Lariviere

United Kingdom
University of Bristol

Dr Matthew Lariviere is a Lecturer in Social Policy based in the School for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol.

Dr Matthew Lariviere is a Lecturer in Social Policy based in the School for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol. He is a social anthropologist and gerontologist whose teaching and research examines the challenges and opportunities for technologies to support older adults, carers and clinicians in health and care systems.
In 2018, he completed his PhD in Health Sciences at the University of East Anglia. His doctoral study was an ethnography of people with dementia and their carers using assistive technologies and telecare at home, as participants in the NIHR-funded trial, Assistive Technology and Telecare to maintain Independent Living At home for people with dementia (ATTILA).
From January 2018 – January 2021, he held a three-year ESRC Innovation Fellowship where he led the study “Accelerating Implementation and Uptake of New Technologies to Support Ageing in Place”. In this study, he examined challenges, benefits and possibilities for businesses and organisations designing, producing and providing emergent technologies to support ageing in place in the UK. In 2020, the N8 Research Partnership recognised Matthew as a New Pioneer for this research on technology to support ageing societies.

Focus: Helping the elderly feel more connected socially / healthy living

Healthy environments bolster healthy individuals. In the aging population, a component of healthy living is inclusivity, promoting positive social engagement, and ensuring a rewarding social aspect to age.

Current State: There are various technologies that support inclusive living, including those that act as communication platforms for the elderly. These platforms work to connect family members, caregivers, and those being cared for. Isolation, and consequently depression and despondency, are critical concerns in the aging community. Using tech to breed a sense of inclusion, and worth, will go a long way for health outcomes. Simple things like geolocated social networks can have a large impact.

IDIH project focus: IDIH project will examine in depth a number of existing technologies and platforms in order to define the requirements for international collaboration on developing innovative platforms and solutions to support elderly people in their everyday life. By combining the functionalities of online service, retrieval and composition with respect to healthcare and wellbeing with those of an online social network, such a platform will provide an integrated online environment for elderly peopled in particular help to bridge the gap between professional and voluntary peer-to-peer service offerings and communication between family members.