Arianna Poli

Arianna Poli is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Linköping University's Department of Aging and Social Change within the Faculty of Philosophy. Her research focuses on inequalities in old age in relation to digitalization in society, examining how digital technologies affect older populations and contribute to social exclusion.

Her research interests center on digital gerontology, exploring the intersection of aging and technology. Dr. Poli investigates how digital health interventions impact older adults, particularly focusing on participation disparities and unequal access. Her work reveals that evaluations of digital technology in healthcare often underrepresent certain groups of older people, potentially leading to misleading conclusions about technology effectiveness. She also examines how older workers experience technology-related changes, especially during the pandemic, and studies the broader implications of digitalization on social inclusion.

Dr. Poli actively contributes to several major research initiatives including the COST Action 'Reducing Old-Age Social Exclusion: Collaborations in Research and Policy (ROSEnet)', an interdisciplinary research program on ICT in self-care, and the Swedish National Research School on Aging and Health (SWEAH). Her work demonstrates that assuming all people over 60 neither want nor can understand new digital technology is discriminatory, challenging common ageist assumptions in technology design and implementation.

Her research has significant implications for policy and practice, highlighting risks that digital tools in healthcare may be overestimated when certain elderly groups participate less in evaluations. This creates potential for reinforcing digital inequalities rather than addressing them. Dr. Poli's work emphasizes the need for more inclusive research methodologies that account for old-age diversity in digital health studies.