Centenarians cite physical activity, social connections (but not social media) as keys to a quality life in seventh annual UnitedHealthcare 100@100 survey
MINNETONKA, Minn. (June 7, 2012) – A new survey finds the nation’s centenarians are just as active – physically and socially – as boomers half their age. More than half of the 100 centenarians polled in UnitedHealthcare’s seventh annual 100@100 survey say they exercise almost every day.
Microsoft Corp., the City of Los Angeles Department of Aging, Partners in Care Foundation and St. Barnabas Senior Services today unveiled an innovative program called the Exergamers Wellness Club, which combines technology with exercise, overall health monitoring and evidence-based health education from Partners in Care. Seniors in the program use Kinect for Xbox 360 to make exercise fun and to supplement other fitness activities such as tai chi. They use Microsoft HealthVault to manage and store their personal health information.
This includes support for up to four Kinect sensors plugged into one computer, along with improved 'skeletal tracking' to follow which user is being tracked by the sensor.
Pew Research asks about the Internet and ‘fun’. New this month: The Internet as Diversion and Destination, offering the results of a survey about the use of the Internet, with answers by age to a question: "Did you go ever go online for no particular reason, just for fun, or to pass the time?" They also asked about whether they did so "yesterday," the day before they were surveyed – which is cute, but "yesterday" as a source of meaningful information is, well, so yesterday. The headliner was about the 53% percent of young adults (18-29) who admitted that yesterday they did, while only 27% of boomers and 12% of seniors allocated a piece of their yesterday for this, uh, purpose. This is a frustrating question that Pew does not analyze, nor does it probe further, so speculation clearly is expected.
Being a caregiver is the toughest job that no one ever talks about.
According to the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, more than 65 million Americans are caregivers to family members with a vast array of illnesses, including Alzheimer’s disease, advanced diabetes, Parkinson’s disease and many others.
Two disruptive technologies now in one company -- Skype and Kinect. Looking back at the past year of technologies that could make a difference in the lives of older adults, I have often thought that Skype and Kinect, not smartphones and tablets, might be the two most significant. Skype because it brings long distance families together (so many examples!) and Kinect because it enables an interaction without the limitations of a mouse, keyboard, or controller. Now both of these are Microsoft's -- and once they've figured out how to commercialize them, we can expect Microsoft, as they have throughout their history, to treat them like platforms for a broad ecosystem of willing partners to extend into new applications. And therefore, there will be apps that make a difference in the lives of older adults.
