Who knew that Alpha Geek caregivers may be interested in health startups? Pew’s just-out research publication, Family Caregivers Online, prompted a column in tech pub Gigaom to suggest that health startups should market to Alpha Geek caregivers. These front-running tech types give us a sense of 'what the future will be like.' There are so many mutually exclusive words (health startup, caregiver, alpha Geek) in that phrase that it begs for analysis. Let’s start with the Pew data: 30% of adults play some sort of caregiving role, and eight in ten of these caregivers have access to the Internet, making them ‘online caregivers,’ the majority of whom look for health information more often than online users who are not caregivers. No kidding. This reinforced and is roughly consistent with the National Alliance for Caregiving report of similar in 2009.
The gifts of aging are bitter – now there’s a generalization. Rant on. The title and sub-heading in the Times caught my eye. Age and Its Awful Discontents and sub-heading "Is there anything good about getting old? No. Its gifts are bitter.” The article was Louis Begley’s gloomy reminiscence about his mother and his abhorrence of the 'ravages and suffering inflicted on the body by age and illness.' You wonder, why 'awful,' why 'discontent,' and 'bitter'? Well, it turns out that his mother was very lonely in her last decade (she died at age 94). "She couldn’t hear well, she had arthritis, too proud for a wheelchair, couldn’t get the hang of a walker, stopped even going to museums, concerts, or sitting on a park bench." Today the 78-year-old Begley feels the "full measure and anguish of his mother’s solitude and that of other old people who end their lives without a companion." It’s too bad Jane Gross and her New Old Age blog wasn’t around (that launched in 2008). Mr. Begley might have read about how other adult children coped (and helped) aging parents. Or he might have hired a geriatric care manager, around since the 1980's. It’s really too bad that despite plenty of money, neither he nor his mother had the inclination to look for ways to maintain the quality of her life.
AUSTIN, Texas (February 27, 2012) – Imagine someone for whom you care having round-the-clock access to an individualized audio library of inspirational readings, prayers, sermons, and classes from the religious or spiritual tradition of their choice. This is the heart of CoroFaith, a streaming audio web application that is launching today. CoroFaith is the latest initiative by audio wellness solutions pioneer Coro Health.
Majority of American Tax Payers Want Aging Parents Receiving Care claimed as Dependents
SEATTLE, Wash., FEBRUARY 28, 2012 – Approximately 23 percent of Americans anticipate they will have to provide care for a loved one in the next year, according to a survey released today by A Place for Mom, Inc. (APFM), the nation’s largest senior living referral information service.
