Transportation, respite services, support for caregivers, home care, affordable services and increased awareness were cited as areas needing attention.
Tech coalitions -- small steps to the start of a community service? Last week was the start of a new Forum category, Community Coalitions About Aging Technology, with San Diego County as the first entrant - 'to help local organizations become more familiar with technologies that could help seniors in the county.' Soon to have their first meeting, Denise Nelesen spoke about the intent, which is to bring local organizations up to speed on what products are out there. She is particularly interested in moving beyond 'computers in libraries' to other categories of products that could be useful to seniors. If others have similar local initiatives and ideas about how to do this, please post in the forum.
No new technology -- huh? Sometimes ya gotta wonder. Listening on a call to a group of senior housing executives recently, I was intrigued by the comment of one of them: "There isn't any new technology." The context was a rationalization of the technology areas they are currently engaged in (home monitoring, senior communication). I was reminded of that old cliche: "You snooze, you lose." In this as in all technology categories, every day an entrepreneur wakes up and says to themselves, 'I can do that.' I know -- I hear from them.
'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.
In a non-travel week, I have more time to speak to vendors, both pre-launch and launched. Here are three launched to add to the list of tech vendors to support caregiving (or 'circle of care' as it is sometimes described). None require any specialized equipment or device in the home. And no doubt each would welcome your contacting them to learn more about their offerings:
MetLife study of working caregivers -- they're not well. A 2010 study sponsored by MetLife examined the effect on healthcare costs associated with working caregivers who had elder care responsibilities, comparing their responses to non-caregiver employees.
