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What does it mean -- Business Week Special Report on Aging in Place?
Wed, 09/23/2009 - 07:18 - Laurie Orlov
This is truly special. Business Week has devoted a special report to Aging in Place. We've seen newspaper and magazine articles, usually on the social curiosity or human interest aspect of using technology to help seniors. In this case, there are many, many small vendors and organizations who are investing and slowly growing their businesses that will serve us as we age. This set of articles is different -- and reflects and reinforces the key principles of creating viable markets. As I often say (when anyone is around to listen): a market undescribed doesn't exist. So what's it mean?
Business press like this may jog big companies into consider doing more. Certainly demographics (which have an inexorable forward movement these days), payment models and documented success examples also encourage investment.
Big companies validate markets for small companies. Talking about Intel, Philips, GE, Nintendo -- all good for small players considering any of their categories. With big company marketing, small companies can ride on their coattails. "You know that Big Behemoth CO product -- ours does x,y,z that it doesn't do."
Awareness is the largest barrier to adoption in this market. As proven in every setting I speak in as well as large surveys like AARP's Healthy@Home (on this site under TRENDS), people are largely unaware of the variety of technology that exists today that could help boomers (half with 1 living parent) and their aging parents.
Technology maturity is the second biggest barrier. A number of products today were merely gleams in the eye five years ago. That means they haven't been in the market long enough to go through the revisions that can make them cheap, interoperable, and integrated in examples we can all see. When they've evolved more...well, think of, as I heard this week from Jim Reilly, Director at NewCourtland HT, the speedy evolution of 'bag phones to today's tiny cell phones'. Maturity follows the lead of investment by big players.
So if you have a role to play in moving this industry forward, that special report was truly special.
Comments
It Means Awareness Is Great!!!
This is great news for our market. Hopefully, people really will start to look towards more online solutions too. We can all make a change and make the transition to age in place much more graceful.
Here at RememberItNow! we want to be part of this innovative aging in place revolution!
RememberItNow! was developed by our founder Pam Swingley to help Pam’s father manage his Glaucoma treatments, medications and retain his independence. It addresses a need many face—remembering to take medication, and taking it correctly.
RememberItNow! users can:
*Set up medication and event reminders sent via email or text message (refill dates are also included in the user's medication information).
*Create a private care community to enable care coordination, long-distance care giving, and more.
*Simplify health care with more health tools like a health journal, health statistics charts, website bookmarks, calendar sharing, medication reports and contact management.
We hope our service helps others take control of their health or the health care of someone they love.
Watch our story here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tFYe-0hKYY
For more information visit us here: http://www.rememberitnow.com/
If you are interested in a free private beta trial, email me at abettencourt@rememberitnow.com
Thank you,
Alex Bettencourt
Telecare Aware critique of the Business Week coverage
http://www.telecareaware.com/index.php/intel-ge-lig-health-guide-quietca...
Educating the Public = Big Business Opps
You are so right, Laurie!
People need help and they need to be aware that help already exists! So any report that raises AWARENESS is very special.
When people first become aware of OnTimeRx medication reminders, they think it's something brand new. "What a GREAT IDEA!" is the universal response, and they're even more amazed when they learn that OnTimeRx medication management products and services have been available for nearly a decade at http://www.OnTimeRx.com. Where have these people been all these years???
To be fair, maybe they only recently recognized the need for something to help manage medications for themselves or a loved one. Who knows?
Very little "mainstream ink" has been devoted to the problems of caregivers and aging issues in the past, even though the NEED is clearly there and well-documented. It's great that BusinessWeek has acknowledged that "aging in place" is suddenly "sexy" enough to pay it some attention.
I know from experience that there are tremendous untapped opportunities for this market segment. I can only hope that more health-related entities will start thinking creatively and finally make use of these tools now! We just need to let the decision-makers know that affordable solutions already exist.