What matters to someone may remain familiar even when their living circumstances change. The opportunities to stay connected, help others, make decisions, or keep learning, however, can look very different from one place to another. In “Values Across Contexts: Understanding How Older Adults Enact What Matters Through Technology”, researchers interviewed 22 older adults in island, rural, and urban settings, as well as care homes and lifelong learning institutes. They found that participants often shared similar core values, but the ways they could act on them depended on their surroundings, relationships, and available support. So, moving to another context could open new possibilities or make something important harder to pursue. The paper argues that technology for older adults should respond to these differences. It may help people maintain relationships and activities through life changes, but it should also respect situations where less technology better supports what they value.

Authored by LASIGE researchers Hugo Simão, David Gonçalves, and Tiago Guerreiro, together with Neeta M. Khanuja, Valentina Nisi, Alexandre Bernardino, and Jodi Forlizzi, the paper was presented by Hugo Simão at CHI 2026 held from 13 to 17 April 2026 in Barcelona, Spain. Read the paper here.