hearing loss

International CES 2015 – overwhelming at every turn. What a relief -- it's over. International CES was an extremely difficult venue to sort into useful categories – the Sands Exhibition Hall (part of Tech West) was filled with every health-related variant of wearable, fitness, and lifestyle improvement like Belty that expands as you eat more – as well as Eureka Park. Watch those fit women peddling bikes and running on treadmills, that distance-measured basketball jump shot, and of course -- the pet-related tracker with the large and tippy stuffed dog.  And they don’t call it International for nothing – walking by, saw (or heard) French entrepreneurs (22% of all startups at CES), the Israeli pavilion, Italian, Spanish, German, and of course, Chinese and Japanese. It is an overwhelming show, not for the faint of heart or foot, and that’s just to get from hotels to conferences and exhibits.

What do we mean by senior? Well, it depends on where you stand and what you are reading. Seen through the Google Glassy lens of young adults, it’s everyone aged 50+, that is, the AARP market demographic, who might be considered a senior. Or perhaps it is age 65, when Medicare eligibility and public transit discounts appear. Age 65 is also the statistical baseline for longevity projections – 20 more years of life expectancy, with one in four projected to live past 90. Now mull over a new Pew global survey about attitudes on aging -- the US stood out as "one of very few countries where a large plurality of the public believes individuals are primarily responsible for their own well-being in old age." Consider that point and read on.

For those with hearing loss – there’s some new technology in 2013.  Older adults, especially among the older age ranges (47% of those aged 75+), have a greater likelihood of hearing loss. On the positive side, they also have more choices today in terms of technologies (at multiple price points) to cope with various degrees and types of hearing loss. Confronting hearing loss is generally deemed essential to combat the social isolation -- and possible decline in cognitive skills -- that may occur as hearing loss worsens. It seems that only 15% of those with hearing loss mitigate it with some sort of technology assist such as an implant, hearing aids, personal sound amplification device (see FDA thoughts on this), or hearing loop technology in a concert or lecture hall (or senior housing dining hall). Here is a sample of the technologies that have been announced this past year: