Assessing the socio-cultural impacts of ermerging molecular technologies for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease

M Boenink*, Y. Cuijpers, A.L. van der Laan, H. van Lente, E. Moors

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

    Abstract

    Novel technologies for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) will impact the way society views and deals with AD and ageing. However, such "sociocultural" impacts are hardly acknowledged in standard approaches of technology assessment. In this paper, we outline three steps to assess such broader impacts. First, conceptual analysis of the ideas underlying technological developments shows how these technologies redraw the boundary between Alzheimer's disease and normal ageing and between biological and social approaches of ageing. Second, imaginative scenarios are designed depicting different possible futures of AD diagnosis and societal ways to deal with ageing and the aged. Third, such scenarios enable deliberation on the sociocultural impact of AD diagnostic technologies among a broad set of stakeholders. An early, broad, and democratic assessment of innovations in diagnostics of AD is a valuable addition to established forms of technology assessment.
    Original languageEnglish
    Number of pages9
    JournalInternational Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
    VolumeArticle ID
    Issue number184298
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2011

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