November reveals a growing sense of urgency about older adults. What has been the impact on them of the daily onslaught of Covid-19 statistics? What about Nine months of ceaseless updates about case counts? Has this produced a permanent fear of contact with others, including families, especially on holidays? Public-private partnerships are forming to bring devices and products to older adults, now isolated for as much as 9 months. Tech firms are trying to boost access to the internet and devices – this will become 2021 priority for non-profits and government. And much more will be different for an older population – the real seniors, aged 75+, perhaps previously unnoticed by media. In fact, older adults have often been ignored by marketers even as boomers have all the money. Here are four blog posts from November:
Filling in the Tech Basics. Technology was essential for many adults stuck at home during the pandemic, providing some social connection, access to online shopping, home delivery services, and requests for transportation. But it also became apparent that some older adults were shut out from these due to limitations in vision, hearing, dexterity, and even dementia. And for some, technologies were not affordable – median income of a household age 75+ is $34,925. Yet it is also becoming apparent that organizations that serve older adults realize that gaps exist. They are increasingly motivated and will strive to ramp up efforts to deliver a greater degree of access than the numbers show today. What are the key dimensions that need to be addressed moving forward? Read more.
Amazon and Older Adults. It’s already been a big year for new Amazon offerings that could benefit older people. This month’s most obvious change was the introduction of Amazon Care Hub, an Alexa app that can be used to help monitor potentially isolated older adults. But they also have done more work on Amazon Hospitality in partnership with K4Connect (which has rolled out 10,000 Alexa devices to senior living communities). One might well argue that Amazon has and will continue to have a major impact on the quality of life for older adults (assuming senior privacy concerns and technology barriers to adoption are overcome – more on that another time). Read more.
2020 Research Reports – A Recap. It was a year that saw little travel, but it was a good time to write. Most would agree that this year was not what we expected. Instead of continuing with business and event travel into March, HIMSS was canceled at the last minute and converted to a virtual event. And so it went, for Argentum events and many other summits. And so it remains a virtual world. So 2020 was a year that produced 5 white papers and three long research reports emerge – normally not feasible with so much here-and-there travel. By comparison, in 2019 one report, the 2019 Market Overview, was published, along with 2 long and 4 short white papers, listed under Research. Here are the reports – looking forward to 2021! Read more.
Five technologies for older adults – November 2020. It was the month for giving thanks -- remotely. It was a strange Thanksgiving for many – staying (stuck?) in place with Zoom, FaceTime -- and few place settings. Worse, for many older adults, isolation is a worsening health issue that we will hear more about as shutdowns continue and shut-in becomes the virtual norm. In November, a long report (the third of 2020) called The Future of Remote Care Technology and Older Adults was published, the result of 30 interviews with executives from organizations large and very small. Here are five companies drawn from the report and beyond – all material is from the company websites. Read more.
from Tips For Aging In Place https://www.ageinplacetech.com/blog/four-technology-and-aging-blog-posts-november-2020
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