Aging and Health Technology Watch

How important is a smart watch?  Last year the Apple Watch turned 10.  By then it was in use by 23% of the smartwatch market worldwide.  And (likely many) more than 17% of US Internet households own an Apple Watch. Imagine – it is the only watch that has outsold the Swiss watch industry! It is increasingly used by many (particularly younger people) for health-related encouragement… ‘STAND! You exceeded your last week’s steps!’  And who previously had such an easy way to check your resting heart rate, know the outside temperature and UV, all at a glance?

An email from a startup founder offered this observation about older adults’ comfort with technology: “The user experience gap between what a product promises in a press release and what a 78-year-old will actually pick up and operate is where most elder care technology quietly fails.”  Not true. If it provides a much-wanted experience like a chat with a grandchild, most older adults will deal with the hassle factors of downloading and using any software. If it involves an app to enable signing up for a desired exercise class, most will deal with the hassle. Long ago, one tech provider told her mother that if she didn’t use the check-in software, she would have to move her to assisted living. She got the message and provided regular updates.

You would think that women were playing a sizable role in tech by now.  You would be wrong.  And historical trends underpin the delta between men and women in tech. Despite early interest in the 1970s, including computer programming, by the mid-1980s women were disappearing from computer science programs.  Consider reasons that are offered, including the possibility that recently introduced personal computers were more likely to be bought for boys than girls. Note the reinforcement from Apple ads (no kidding) about what these computers could do for the career dreams of boys.

Water aerobics – an exercise beloved by older women.  There may be some men that enjoy it too, though classes in a nearby gym I see largely attended by older women.  Many (most?) of whom are likely Silver Sneakers members with free gym membership – with the gym reimbursed by Medicare Advantage programs.  Looking around a large class, most women appear to be older than 65, some arriving with a walker, some getting into the pool with some difficulty.  But once they are in the water, they are all smiles.  The water and the atmosphere are both perfect temperatures – welcoming to all. And the bonus?

Flipping the script on aging – an interesting concept.  No surprise that Dolly Parton and Cher, both now age 80, exemplify the script flip. That flip includes the substantial cosmetic work that each has had to produce a new (and then newer) face.  Both are still performing – as are numerous other 80+ rock stars like Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney.  Good for them. I guess.  Is this an aspiration to be shared by the millions of baby boomers headed toward or arrived at 80?  Is playing pickleball the standard by which 80-year-olds want to be measured?  How about drug-facilitated weight loss?

The elusive dream of AI accountability in the face of disaster.  You know, of course, that ChatGPT is trained to avoid showing harmful material.  It’s ‘built with safety in mind.’ Just ask OpenAI. So the plethora of cases that has emerged in the past few years in terms of triggered suicide (Sept 2025) and then in November 2025 (“You’re not rushing into suicide, you’re just ready”) and March, 2026 via a train: ‘what’s the most successful way to take your own life?’ Parental controls were introduced, no doubt as a defensive measure, in 2025 after one of these ‘incidents.’  Ah, but perhaps day late and a dollar short --  the controls apply to 13 to 17-year-olds and are not on by default! And some say they are broken by design – requiring linking child’s account to parent’s.

Older women (and men) are at risk of falling down. Falls are the leading cause of injury-related deaths among older adults. Death rates from falls are increasing, particularly among those aged 75+. Lots of reasons are cited, including medications, snow and ice, or poor vision, among other causes. At the end of one such article, experts noted that ‘staying active’ would help protect against fall risk. Whatever that meant.

Falls are a serious problem among the oldest adults.  No one can question the statistics - falls are the leading cause of injury-related death among adults ages 65 and older, and the fall death rate increased by 21% from 2018 to 2024. The Senate’s Committee on Aging has taken note – and this week has launched a request for more tech-enabled innovation. Note the chart below and the increase among the population aged 85 and older.  Also interesting to note that life expectancy has increased during this period – resulting in more people living past age 85.  In fact, mortality rates for older men have been decreasing at a faster rate than for women.

 A blogger asserts, unquantified, unsupported by any numbers.  But it sounds intriguing, doesn’t it? You picture the unplugging and disconnecting of voice-enabled devices, user-run temperature and light controls.  Get these out of here! Then you say why? Or more to the point, what is the data that supports this?  An 2024 AARP report about growing utility and adoption of smart home technology?  Apparently ‘many retirees are now reconsidering whether devices are improving or creating new frustrations.’ Hard to argue that managing smart home tech to work on your behalf, well, takes work.  But take the devices out?

This Aging in Place Tech blog was launched officially in 2009. We asked ChatGPT to give the December, 2009 blogs a review and compare them to October, 2025 blogs to see what changed in terms of topics and tone.  In 2009, it detected an emerging market and observations about immature and simplistic products and gadgetry. Remember GE’s acquisition of QuietCare? It detected frustration with fragmented markets, poor adoption and naïve assumptions in the market about older adults. ChatGPT also noticed observations about poor usability and lack of integration among products, vendor hype (touch screens had just emerged), as well as the need for market education.  The belief in 2009 was that older adults could and would adopt technology if it is useful and respectful.