Aging and Health Technology Watch

Big conference, lots of empathy and caring.  It's been a while since I attended an event exclusively focused on Alzheimer's -- I wondered if the curiosity about technology potential I encounter at so many other events would be duplicated.

Lots of detail about the under-65 crowd.  We are a society so consumed by age bracketing and labels, you'd think there was enough data to meet all the needs of marketers.

Another week, this time a look at the future of healthy aging. Yesterday kicked off the first of a two-year Think Tank initiative sponsored by Philips through its Center for Health and Well-Being. The purpose of this Think Tank is to consider and flesh out ideas about what it means globally to age successfully -- with implications about future requirements for policy, health systems, and technology use.

Older Americans -- so lucky to have their own month.  And the merry month of May has been as hyped up as any: judging by the 4.6 million items that popped up with a Google Search ("Older Americans Month May 2010").

At my request, one of the attendees at ATA, Mark VanderWerf, founder of AMD Telemedicine and a prior board member of ATA, sent me this commentary on the recent San Antonio event. Further attendee comments are invited.

From Mark VanderWerf, now with Telehealth Advisors (Received May 24 2010).

Looking back to January -- the spectacular iPad success confounds skeptics.  It is always entertaining to look back at product reviewers and skeptic comments from way back, that is, end of January 2010, when the iPad launched and howls of pundit dismay -- even the WSJ's resident Apple swooner Walter Mossberg had reservations!!! -- were heard across the land.

Socially and personally, information access empowers.  BCS (once known as the British Computer Society) published an interesting report this month called "The Information Dividend: Can IT Make You Happier?" This study of 35,000 examines the relationship between access to information and the means of getting it with responders' life satisfaction.

Product potential and interest is there.  Within the past few weeks I have been briefed by no fewer than 10 firms about products/solutions being developed to serve the 'aging in place' consumer -- a few are launched: they represent some combination of offerings for senior, caregiver, provider -- with and without devices directly in the home.

May is Older Americans (not Senior Citizens) Month.  The Administration on Aging notes that this 'acknowledgement of the contribution of older Americans' was launched in 1963. Prior to 1980, it was known as Senior Citizen Month, but was renamed and became a 'tradition' during the Carter Administration.

'The Checklist Manifesto' has applicability to buying tech for aging. I just finished reading "The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right" by Atul Gawande, a surgeon who developed a checklist to improve surgery safety for WHO and his own operating room.