A/HRC/36/48 or banking services. Solutions based on information and communications technology can also help create virtual communities and digital neighbourhood platforms for communitybuilding, and allow older persons to participate in online mutual support services and seek advice. 72. Participation begins with the direct involvement of older persons in the design and development of assistive products and extends to the planning, delivery and evaluation of services. It is also about ensuring their inclusion at all levels of decision-making. It is about making older persons equal partners in the process, using genuine bottom-up approaches (i.e. co-design or co-construction). Specific efforts must be made to include marginalized groups and those not adequately covered in representative organizations of older persons, such as indigenous people, migrants and refugees, ethnic, cultural or linguistic minorities, and those with complex support needs. 73. The use of robots and assistive devices may potentially lead to a reduction in the amount of human contact. While during the introduction of new systems interaction with health workers may increase, the use of robots for tasks such as lifting, carrying or even cleaning might ultimately reduce an older person’s social contact with humans. Even if interactions with robots, for instance social companion robots, could be potentially beneficial for the physical and emotional well-being of older persons, the extent to which they may replace reduced or missing interactions with humans, and any potential risks in this regard, should be thoroughly assessed. 16 74. Technology may perpetuate the view that older persons are inert and in need of protection. Robotics and other types of technology should not prioritize certain forms of participation, i.e. they should not merely seek to facilitate remote interaction from home, and should not create distraction as a form of respite for caregivers. Some systems can augment cognition. They allow the user to make choices and lead the interactions (for example, the Computer Interactive Reminiscence and Conversation Aid). 17 They can be tailored to the individual’s circumstances and preferences, and can also ensure the right of the user to be left alone.18 7. Adequate standard of living 75. The right to an adequate standard of living requires, at a minimum, that everyone should enjoy the necessary conditions of support they need. That involves the availability of support services and assistive devices. Unless older persons have access to the support they require, they will not be in a position to fully enjoy their human rights, such as the right to an adequate standard of living. Such services and devices must not only be generally available in the market, but they should comply with the principles of availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality. 76. Assistive technology must be available in sufficient quantity and accessible to all older persons, without discrimination and especially for the most disadvantaged older persons and those with high support needs. It should be tailored to the diverse spectrum of the needs of the older population and be available within easy reach, based on individual circumstances. Solutions that are only available in certain geographical areas, such as cities, or that are only offered in specific settings, such as homes for older persons, do not comply with the principle of accessibility. 16 17 18 14 E.g., PARO, a robot seal, which is used for therapeutic purposes, or MARIO robot, which is used in dementia care for memory recall and cognitive skills and can verbally interact with patients via voiceactivated software; see also, e.g., Shuzhi Sam Ge and others, eds., Social Robotics: Second International Conference on Social Robotics, ICSR 2010, Singapore, November 23-24, 2010. Proceedings (Berlin/Heidelberg, Springer, 2010). Astell, “Technology and personhood in dementia care”. Tomoko Saito and others, “Relationship between interaction with the mental commit robot and change of stress reaction of the elderly”, paper presented at the International Symposium on Computational Intelligence in Robotics and Automation of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 16-20 July 2003, Kobe, Japan.