Upcoming webinar to explore age tech challenges and trends

The capability to are living easily in one’s household or group properly, independently and comfortably can decrease overall health treatment prices, stay clear of or delay admission to institutional treatment, and simplicity the anxiety on spouse and children caregivers.

A lot of more mature grown ups and their caregivers rely on technologies to assistance them age in location. From Alexa-type units to on the net grocery shipping and delivery to artificially intelligent sensors which monitor frailty, there is no question that the ideal equipment applied correctly can improve protection and peace of brain for equally elders and their caregivers.

With a growing population of people in excess of the age of 60 and a shrinkage of caregivers, age tech — digital engineering crafted all over the needs and wishes of older adults, is getting a booming field. In actuality, the age tech current market is envisioned to reach $2 trillion, in accordance to The Gerontechnologist’s 2021 Age Tech Current market Map.

Age tech can support more mature people (or caregivers) monitor just about every thing — from medicine reminders to when the fridge was past opened to how several moments an elder acquired up to use the lavatory in the center of the evening. Though a lot of more mature older people are at ease with and even embrace technology, there are also some downsides. Equipment can be deserted because they possibly fall short to dwell up to first promises or are too difficult, too invasive or just way too significantly of a stress, according to scientists. Some elders are awkward with the trade-offs among supplemental safety and perceived or precise decline of privacy. And then, there are issues of affordability, accessibility and the digital divide.

“For older older people, it is imperative to provide an built-in smart resolution, not just good engineering,” writes Laurie Orlov, founder of Getting old and Overall health Engineering Observe, wherever she delivers analysis and steerage about traits that help more mature individuals and boomers to boost their quality of daily life.

Orlov is a person of the professionals talking at AHCJ’s forthcoming webinar, Aging in place technology: difficulties and traits, on April 6 at 1 p.m. EST/10 a.m. PT.

What do families want to make sure their beloved kinds keep safe and sound and nutritious? Panelist Leslie Kernisan, M.D., M.P.H., a geriatrician, and founder of betterhealthwhileaging.internet, will glance at precise desires that come up when an more mature grownup attempts to age in area. What troubles do they (and often, the family members) close up seeking to solve?

Speaking of options —Jeffrey Kaye, M.D., director of ORCATECH (Oregon Centre for Getting old & Technological know-how) at Oregon Wellbeing & Science College and a professor of neurology and biomedical engineering at the university, will highlight ORCATECH’s Lifestyle Lab, which could be a nationwide ageing-in-location technological innovation model. Kaye is main a multi-internet site, nationwide research funded by the National Institutes of Health and fitness and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Several men and women assume seniors are not intrigued in technologies. But they have tested they can change to an at any time-evolving know-how landscape as nicely as other age groups, in accordance to an posting on SeniorLiving.org. In accordance to the short article, extra than 50 percent of older grown ups acquired a new tech product in 2019, these types of as a smartphone, laptop computer or intelligent dwelling machine. And an estimated 75% of older grownups with an online link report utilizing it day by day.

A latest College of Michigan analyze surveyed people today ages 50-80 about their use of and curiosity in mobile overall health applications. 20-eight % described employing at minimum just one mobile wellness application. Overall, 34% of more mature older people stated they use or have employed apps for workout, 22% for nourishment, 20% for weight decline and 17% for slumber, in accordance to the report.

Preferred technological know-how for seniors involves factors like food stuff shipping services applications, transportation and ride-sharing cellular applications, and online video chatting programs to hold up with grandchildren and others. There are even digital retirement communities in which seniors can keep in their have households but be element of a membership organization that assists seniors make medical appointments, or get a handyman to make repairs.

Some 268 this sort of “villages” with a lot more than 40,000 customers exist in the U.S., and an added 70 are in advancement, Kaiser Overall health News noted a short while ago. They are not nevertheless a mass-marketplace alternative for getting old in spot, the report mentioned, but they are supplying social connections by means of community forums these kinds of as dialogue teams, courses, or outings, or other social gatherings.

Journalists attending the webinar need to wander away with a assortment of story angles and tips from our gurus. We hope you can be part of us!

Sources

 

Liz Seegert, based mostly in New York Town, is AHCJ’s topic leader on getting older. Karen Blum is an unbiased journalist and AHCJ’s main matter leader on health and fitness IT.