Marketing technology – are seniors different from other people?

Google discovers seniors (sort of) and thus a market is maybe born. There was a breathlessness to the CNBC article on July 23, 2018 – Google is mulling older adult applications for its Nest product line – particularly in senior housing settings, hopefully at less cost per installation than its website pricing.  And gee whiz, one of the uses is pathway lighting to find the bathroom – presumably replacing motion-sensing night lights for $7.97 from Walmart. Up next, predicting life-threatening falls, perhaps as an alternative to Philips CareSage or BioSensics Frailty Meter, for example.  Google execs qualified our enthusiasm, per the article: “The ideas are only in the discussion stage and may not find their way into shipping products.” Since his role at Google is to do “something interesting” -- perhaps this may not turn out to be.

So one must ask -- has Amazon discovered seniors – sort of, but not overtly.  Surely that would turn into a reason why Google (Nest or otherwise) would engage.  People seem to think there is a list of Alexa skills and commands that are or could be useful.  And in fact, a search on the Amazon site turns up many – but as for Amazon itself – well it is as stealth in intent as Google, only more so.  Amazon may – or may not – collaborate with AARP on offerings for seniors.  AARP has demonstrated its enthusiasm by creating an AARP Alexa ‘flash briefing’ skill that is ‘curated for the ‘50-plus crowd.’ Pause to contemplate a ‘crowd’ of 107.8 million (one-third of the US population) and what they may have in common with each other. Okay, never mind.  

As for everyone else – people, service providers, and vendors get the utility. With Apple, a search for ‘elderly’ (turns up zip) and ‘seniors’ brings up the executive team. Their products are for ‘all’ people, no individual age-based market segments appear to matter. However, Apple has a robust Accessibilities feature list – though the featured photos are mostly of younger people.  Which brings up an interesting point about market awareness, targeting, and fear of targeting.  Today there are nearly 50 million people aged 65+ in the US, and one in five Americans will be at least that age in twelve short years.  So what year is the right year for Google to be “shipping products” to benefit them? Or for Amazon to cultivate its own offerings and messaging and not its 2014 icky and short-lived one-stop shopping for defibrillators and adult diapers?

Are seniors different from other people?  There are differences for sure – benefits eligibility and national age-based programs: age  62+ for Social Security, 65+ for Medicare, and age 50+ eligibility for AARP discounts.  And also health statistics do not lie.  Half of the aged 75+ population has a ‘disabling’ hearing loss – no doubt contributing to social isolation and poorer health, not to mention the 5+ million of the elderly living with Alzheimer’s and/or dementia.  At the same time, all seniors can benefit from consumer technology advancement, particularly Voice First, which enables avoidance of squint-tap-and-touch and replaces that glass-based UI with everyone’s best skill – talking. Was that accidental innovation that benefits older adults? Maybe so (Amazon and Google aren’t saying) and if so, let there be more of these.

category tags: 

Boomer-Senior Tech Business, Aging, smart home, Voice First/AI technology

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from Tips For Aging In Place https://www.ageinplacetech.com/blog/marketing-technology-are-seniors-different-other-people

With Fewer Family Caregivers, What’s the (Tech-Enabled) Plan?

You saw the headline – America is running out of family caregivers.  The numbers are daunting.  Says Ken Dychwald in the WSJ article:  “We’re going to have to look to nontraditional care,” says Ken Dychtwald, CEO of Age Wave, a consulting firm.  "Older adults, he says, may have to take in boarders, who can help with shopping and repairs, or rely more on monitoring devices and delivery services.”  This latest article was based on a recent study (part of a series) from Merrill Lynch and Age Wave.  But is the issue low growth in potential family caregivers?  Or is the real issue the low growth of population in the appropriate age range (45-64) of people to provide care to people who are aged 80+?

What is the quantified care gap -- now and in the future? This age-specific gap was quantified in 2013 by AARP (available caregivers in the population, or the caregiver support ratio, from 7:1 down to 3:1 by 2050). Then it was more precisely translated into near-term implications in specific geographies published that same year (think Palm Beach and Sarasota County, Ocean County, NJ, and Barnstable, MA). And finally, factoring in family caregivers and population age range, what about paid caregivers – and what is that gap?  The Age Wave study, as do many journalists, combines home care (non-skilled, or ‘companion’) with home health care (higher level of training and certification and refers to all as 'home health care.'  

For such an innovative society, so far there are no good ideas. Think about the innovation -- the remarkable cleverness that emerges when America appears to run out of any resource. Consider doctors, especially in rural areas, and the investment in digital health, including remote diagnostics and consultations with specialists. Think about the growth in kiosks and self-service across multiple categories.  Yet in personal care delivery -- whether in senior living, home care, home healthcare – the only idea, grasped like an out-of-reach straw, has been an in-home robot. Focus on socialization has meant that even those that made it most of the way into the market, like Jibo, spent $73 million and collapsed.  Was socialization the right caregiving problem to solve? Or did Amazon (and Google) solve that with its line of Echo devices, reminders, notifications, and drop-in calls?  And as for caregiving robots? Well, it’s amazing, but there is literally nothing near term.

What is being attempted for in-home care?   Multiple robotics initiatives involving personal care have all failed.  AARP funded a report, Caregiving Innovation Frontiers, in 2016, but has not doubled back to see what happened to all of the great ideas there. Family caregivers benefit from access to tools within software platforms (offered through provider organizations), but themselves are unlikely to buy them. Tech-enabled home care was a venture capital bust -- but imagine, turning to one failure and giving them more money to manage tech for the rest. In late 2017, AARP and others launched the Care Institute with a its own YAWN -- Yet Another Worrisome Number -- that there will be more than 27 million people requiring paid care by 2050. They offer an initiative to train and grow the care workforce (combining childcare, post-acute care, and elder care, not at all similar, unfortunately).  It seems that if a technology cannot get into the market to deliver physical care, maybe now it’s really time to ramp up the worker population, giving new meaning to the cliche "a day late and a dollar short." 

category tags: 

Family caregivers, Home Care, tech-enabled home care, home health care

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from Tips For Aging In Place https://www.ageinplacetech.com/blog/fewer-family-caregivers-what-s-tech-enabled-plan

Voice First: Speaking Up about Health and Wellness

Voice First is changing health and wellness offerings today. Already the predicted capability to speak a request or instruction without having to type or tap on a device – known as Voice First – has transformed how we interact with technology. If we can speak a command to play music, control the lights, or open the shades – benefits can accrue to the elderly living alone, to individuals who are blind or have macular degeneration, and those with disabilities. And AARP and Optum have initiated pilots to determine if this technology can help mitigate social isolation among the elderly and improve health outcomes. But there are experiments and pilots for using Voice First technologies for health and wellness applications. So what’s intriguing?

Answers to some questions are obvious -- or obviously missing.  Health tech and service providers want to speak – at least a little.  Alexa has the answer to ‘Where’s the Nearest Hospital” but sends you to WebMD for how to treat a sunburn. Consumer healthcare literacy concerns (“what’s a formulary?”) led insurer Cigna in March 2018 to launch Answers by Cigna.  Need first aid guidance about dealing with a fever? There’s Mayo Clinic First Aid Skill.  Ask questions to Google Assistant -- much like Apple’s Siri, shows both the promise and weakness of current offerings. The dilemma - to provide an answer to a question that exceeds (Google’s) 29-word brevity for the software’s spoken response. One of the critiques of WebMD’s Alexa skill – it didn’t understand drug names.

Healthcare systems offer voice-enabled interfaces – as experiments.  KidsMD, launched in 2016, has been a pioneer in use of Voice First health offerings – offering ‘trusted pediatric content.’ For other providers, asking where the nearest urgent care facility is – especially if you’re out of town – may make some sense. But see Independent Health’s Alexa skill – does asking about your deductible make any sense?  Your particular cost to visit an ER? As some have said repeatedly, Voice First does not mean Voice only – and a 29-word response, well, for some questions, the less said, the better.

Home health care – perhaps the best fit for Voice First.   Like Children’s hospital, Libertana Home Health Care saw the potential and launched a home health solution with Orbita in 2017 – with reminders about schedules, medications, and access to caregivers. LifePod recently announced a partnership with Commonwealth Care Alliance to provide home health support for medication adherence and care plans. And then there’s Amazon -- with a team focused on health and wellness – creating interest and some have concern about a voice home hub – though not yet HIPAA compliant.  But is there anyone who thinks that Amazon (or Google or even Apple) won’t overcome current barriers?

category tags: 

Voice First/AI technology, home health care, mHealth-Digital Health-Telehealth, digital health

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from Tips For Aging In Place https://www.ageinplacetech.com/blog/voice-first-speaking-about-health-and-wellness

Five Recent Caregiving Technology Offerings in 2018

What newcomers have entered the market?  Besides ‘longevity market new media’ like Stria (former Next Avenue) that provided a splash of cold water for startups and investors in the older adult space.  Although there is little evidence that any investors are bullish about the general older adult market – despite AARP documentation and various books to the contrary, innovators continue to create new offerings to help older adults live better lives.  Here are five recent and soon-launching offerings to help – content is from the websites of the firms:

CareAcademy. "Empower caregivers to learn how to deliver the best care to older adults with the support, guidance, and compassion needed to improve their quality of life. We would then make it easy for caregivers to “upskill” and continue their education over time so they could better serve clients as needs changed and advance their careers.  The result is a better caregiver, a better home care agency and a better way to care. Today CareAcademy provides home care agencies with a best in class online education platform.”  Learn more at CareAcademy.

CogniZance.  "CogniZance was established to provide a cognitive enhancement service for older adults. Building on top of neuroplasticity findings, the service includes daily exercises that take place in the real world and that are meant to train users’ working memory, attention, creative thinking and more. Join CogniZance today and start training your brain on a daily basis using our new integration with Facebook Messenger.” Learn more at CogniZance.

JoinPapa. "Papa uses technology to simplify and speed up the process of finding qualified assistance for your loved one at a moment’s notice. Maybe your loved one just needs help with a few household tasks this afternoon. No problem, connect to local Papa Pals instantly, select one that meets your needs and they’ll be there in under an hour, for as little or as long as you or your loved one need them. Traditional agencies require minimum hour commitments (daily and weekly), many days to find a qualified caregiver to even come to meet you.” Florida only at this time. Learn more at JoinPapa.com.

Kinto. "When your family needs to keep an extra eye on mom, coordinate her care, manage her meds, make sure things are in order or just keep everyone in the loop, Kinto has you covered. Whether it's managing medications, keeping track of important documents or simply keeping a list of everything there is to do. Connect with other Kinto families to exchange support, wisdom and knowledge.” Learn more at KintoCare.

PeoplePower. The Home Occupancy Status Microservice is also capable of knowing when people are asleep to deliver advanced automation, senior care and wellness solutions from understanding a person’s natural sleep patterns. Able to put a home to sleep or wake it up gently to better prepare residents for the day, improvements to a person’s circadian rhythm are possible through sleep predictions to intelligently adjust home temperature and lighting conditions appropriate for the time of day, the day itself, and even the season. Senior care solutions become more intelligent and supportive by understanding away, at home, asleep or awake states of older adults. Learn more at PeoplePower.

 

 

 

category tags: 

Family caregivers, IoT and home monitoring

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from Tips For Aging In Place https://www.ageinplacetech.com/blog/five-recent-caregiving-technology-offerings-2018

The ABCs of the Internet Today – Ads, Bots and Crushing Clutter

The business model of the Internet is crushing us.   Rant on. We could start with Twitter, which is deleting millions of bots, trolls, and other fake accounts (often with automated software generating hundreds of tweets per day).  This is raising concerns over the company's growth and true number of monthly users. But not raising concern about the business and social value of Twitter. Has anyone looked at the age distribution of Twitter users? Only 8% are 65+, and the biggest block is aged 18-29.  Consider that its share price and profit of $61 million in Q1 2018 are tied to growth in ‘legitimate human users -- the only ones capable of responding to the advertising that is the main source of revenue for the company.” Translate: capable of responding because they are human 18-29 year olds, not because they have money to spend. And then there are:

Websites – as quantity of edited text declines, the user experience is crushing us.  The Wall Street Journal is not a junk website, but because I used Chrome on a big display screen to search for closet built-ins, the first-displayed ad for one of those companies ate up the upper one-third of the screen real estate.  I did not search for BMWs – nor do I own one, but the NY Times website equivalent has BMW videos to warn me that there are only a few weeks left of summer. Of course, your results will, as goes the web, vary greatly and with each visit. Look for a topic presented in a Google Alert, for example, telehealth. First click ‘No’ on whether to subscribe to a site for home health agencies, then study the ring of event ads. Or car rentals – where a website popup called ‘Advertiser Disclosure’ admits that it prioritizes rental agencies that compensate it.

Facebook – personal data exposure has been crushing us. In the first quarter, Facebook disabled 583 million accounts in Q1 of 2018 (versus Twitter’s 70 million).  The company claims that it has 2.9 billion active users, though that is a global number, and the active daily number is ‘closer’ to 1.15 billion.  Okay, and that is a number net of the disabled 583 million accounts? those numbers with Pew’s 68% of US adults on Facebook, unchanged from 2016.  Per the NY Times (this time the ad is about Quicken Loans – maybe to buy that previously-displayed BMW?), A Facebook ‘bug’ changed the privacy setting of 14 million users.   The has a long and well-tracked history of so-called ‘privacy missteps.’

Ah, Google, let’s (not) be evil – it could be crushing other companies.  Did you know that the company dropped that ‘Don’t Be Evil’ phrase from its code of conduct in May?  Or that the US is doing little in light of the efforts in the EU to rout out its (some say outrageous – in 2017) anti-competitive behavior? We, the users, of course, don’t complain as much as the algorithmically down-ranked companies that are driven to distraction like Yelp – or out of business. And though the EU is leveling a big fine, India a smaller fine – but the US has been asleep at the switch, though perhaps there is a bit of awakening (reported in the UK, of course).  Meanwhile and no doubt, the distribution of companies in the search space is striking – though $100 billion revenue Alphabet/Google denies that it has a monopoly on search. And what ever happened to Yahoo?  Rant off.

category tags: 

social media, computers, internet and social networking

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from Tips For Aging In Place https://www.ageinplacetech.com/blog/abcs-internet-today-ads-bots-and-crushing-clutter

Four Blog Posts (and concerns) That You May have Missed

Considering the dog days of summer.  Dog days – these are the hottest days of summer, according to that Oracle of modern culture, Wikipedia.  As the glow and racket from fireworks fade, it's time to mull over the thoughts that zipped by in recent months, perhaps not noticed, but are worth another consideration.  All four of these posts are about our technology life, as shoppers in stores as recently as July 1, our experience with user interfaces that are designed for none, catching up on the hype/hope/fading hope about self-driving cars, and finally, the only thing that can terrorize a company the size of Walmart – Jeff Bezos and Amazon. Here are four blog posts to take a look at in this sleepy week:

Time to Worry about Your Data.  The irony, the irony – everyone saw Europe’s data privacy initiatives.  Why has this taken so long here? In a word – lobbying. The congressional hearing droned on, and Mark Zuckerberg tried so hard not to sound condescending towards his techno-light questioners about the so-called ‘Facebook Scandal.’ Which could have been the Google scandal, the Twitter scandal, or eve Amazon -- consolidation of industry players and using the data to sell them (or make ads ‘more effective’) or as with Amazon, sell them more stuff. The real scandal? Not the Cambridge Analytica role, which didn’t exactly sneak around in the long-time and paid analysis of Facebook data. The real scandal might be last year's $30 million of lobbying spent to avoid controls (and user protection) actions like those considered and in process in Europe.

Technology Designed for All.  A long time ago (7 years this month) in a tech world far, far away, a report sponsored by AARP predicted that technology change would deliver a new user experience. The concept was referred to as "Technology Design for All" -- defined as 'User experiences that appeal to all age groups, persisting across versions and devices.'  According to the report Connected Living for Social Aging, which was published 7 years ago this month, the future was predicted. It is worth a look back -- note that it did happen just as described. Consider smart speakers (the Echo was launched in 2014), IoT boxes, phones, tablets, PCs, Macs and all cloud-based software.   These work without the need to download and upgrade on Patch Tuesday, though fixing privacy is the next big technology hurdle. 

Are we really ready for self-driving cars? In a taxi in DC – the driver wends his way around buses and pedestrians.  It’s the day after the self-driving car killed a pedestrian. The next day, you can find scores of link references to a police comment that the car was likely not at fault though no investigation has completed – or even been started. In another tech publication (“Big Think – your daily micro-dose of genius”), you can read that in over 1.5 million miles of testing, one year ago was the first time the car had been at fault when it crashed with a bus. Really? How does the writer know this? Because Google says it was a ‘misunderstanding in the car’s software and from now on, the car will understand that large vehicles and buses will be less likely to yield.’

 

Do we really want Amazon to win at everything? It is the time of convenience – and of non-stop hacking into everything.   Consider these 41 hacks (through October 2017!) in health care.  And these 791 in banking (through July, 2017!). And then there’s Equifax – 143 million accounts, established presumably to protect, not misuse, your social security data.  And what’s the worst that can happen? Identity theft – costing consumers $16 billion in 2016.   Yet consumers trust Amazon, sellers not so much.  And they trust both Amazon and Walmart as possible providers of drone deliveries, with only 41 percent concerned about air traffic safety – presumably fear of too many drones in the air – as their hot food is delivered.  But the drone, presumably would drop off the food outside the home. And Amazon has filed patents on drone delivery. What’s next?  Deliveries inside the home? Uh, yes. As with self-driving cars, media hype combined with consumer naiveté are, as always, regrettable enablers.

 

category tags: 

vehicle/transportation technology-services, Boomer-Senior Tech Business

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from Tips For Aging In Place https://www.ageinplacetech.com/blog/four-blog-posts-and-concerns-you-may-have-missed

Aging in Place Technology – Five Blog Posts from June 2018

In a short month, heard lots about caregiving and hearing.  You have 'conversed' with an older person who cannot hear well without hearing aids but owns an expensive pair which are highly adjustable. But they don't put them in, or lost one of them and not replaced it, even though the VA will pay for it. These individuals may ask you a question, but they don’t wait for an answer they can’t hear well. And so they go on – talking about themselves  and assuming that’s fine at your end of the 'dialogue'   They have families who become irritated with them; they spend a great deal of time alone.  Then one day, they become part of an equation – those with hearing loss are at greater risk of developing dementia.   Sigh.  Here are four blog posts from June:

Four technology categories to remotely monitor a caregiver. The boom in home care has side effects -- turnover and risk. We want to trust home care workers with aging parents.  After all, most cannot afford private pay assisted living – which can exceed $3000/month in most locations – and assisted living occupancy is projected to be flat -- likely because people see the cost and defer move-in. Given expanding life expectancies at age 65 – an average of 20 more years for men and more for women, the possibility of ‘aging in place’ in a private home may be growing.  As a result, the demand for private home care will grow, but so will the costs – especially for finding workers willing to do this difficult work for low pay.

Voice First in Senior Living -- What's Happened and What's Next?  Senior Living organizations are eager to try new technology.  Over the years, consider the pilots of Rendever (virtual reality) at Brookdale, Benchmark’s pilot of Google Home and Samsung tablets, or  CarePredict in LifeWell facilities – just a few of the many. Some pilots are even documented in the form of case studies – about what worked – or what might not have worked.  Pilots are typically newsworthy at their start. And they may produce a list of lessons learned upon completion – or a set of considerations for future pilots. So where does Voice First technology fit into the senior living equation?

Narrowing the price gap between hearing aids and PSAPs.  The hearing aid industry offers pricey hearing aids for people with ‘defined’ hearing loss.  The FDA wants you to understand that it regulates hearing aids – which it defines as helping the medical condition of hearing loss. The FDA then observes that Personal Sound Amplification Products (PSAPs) are “sound amplifiers for consumers with no hearing loss who want to make environmental sounds louder for recreational use.“ Recreational? Hearing aids that they do regulate are now made by a small number of companies and are sold with audiologist services for $1000 up to $4000 per device – most people need two – they have a lifespan of up to 7 years.   That price includes a hearing test, fitting, initial batteries and more.

Ten Technologies from the Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit.  Two competitions, both sets of presentations in one day. The first five are finalists in the 2018 Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit Business Plan competition. The Business Plan Competition features companies pitching their ideas to a diverse panel of judges for feedback, funding and a $10,000 prize.  The second five are finalists in the AARP Innovation Labs Pitch Competition for companies focused on providing peace of mind to family caregivers through the use of VR, AI and other disruptive technologies. The winning team will go on to the AARP Innovation Pitch Event in Washington, DC, in October of 2018.

Now Hear This: uncorrected hearing loss isolates and harms older adults.   One in three between age 65 and 74 has hearing loss, and nearly half of people aged 75+ have some significant level of hearing loss.  Note that hearing loss has been linked to dementia and to social isolation – and that in turn has been connected to poorer health outcomes.  Furthermore, wearing hearing aids has been linked to fewer hospital visits. According to studies, among adults aged 70 and older with hearing loss who could benefit from hearing aids, fewer than one in five (20 percent) has ever used them. Why such a small percentage? Experts believe that it is a combination of denial, belief that hearing loss is not severe enough, perceived stigma associated with wearing hearing aids, and a perception that they cost too much.

[Note: For those who want to see the original blog post (and all of the other site content), please visit www.ageinplacetech.com.]

category tags: 

hearing loss, Boomer-Senior Tech Business, Seniors, dementia care

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from Tips For Aging In Place https://www.ageinplacetech.com/blog/aging-place-technology-five-blog-posts-june-2018