Having watched the home health technology market crawl along at a snail’s pace for most of the last decade, I’m excited to expand my focus to aging in place.  I see a fundamental — and absolutely critical — difference between the narrow focus of healthcare unbound/remote health monitoring market and the more expansive purview of aging in place.  That difference can be summed up as the difference between fear and hope.

Healthcare-only solutions tap into the fears that as we age, we will fall apart or become helpless.  None of us likes to face those fears, nor do we particularly enjoy the efforts we have to put towards keeping them at bay.  So we don’t run out to buy the technology and services that help us monitor our weight, keep our blood pressure or sugar levels in check, or even prevent falls — at any age.

Aging in place, on the other hand, helps us tap into our hopes that we can still contribute, still connect, and still experience new pleasure as we age.  Yes, we need to maintain our health and our safety and security in order to have those opportunities (two fundamental pillars of aging in place), but we are doing so in order to create a solid foundation from which to continue living, not merely a means to stave off dying.

As I explore aging in place solutions in the weeks and months to come, I will be looking for platforms that marry these critical elements together.  Many thanks to Laurie for creating this forum to explore this critical landscape.

-Liz Boehm