home health care

September brings falling leaves, rising and falling hopes. Turns out that VCs are waking up to the opportunity in the longevity economy. Recognizing that people may live a lot longer, perhaps even to 100. How do you prepare for such a long life? Behold the rise of the active adult lifestyle, now enabled with a boom in 55+ rental communities. Combine that change with the ‘Forgotten Middle Market’ of senior living. Consider the Chicago Tribune article about tech for aging in place. Now add in the shortage of workers in home care, health care, and nursing homes. If there was a time to look at the role of monitoring and engagement technologies that augment and assist the worker in the care of older adults – it would seem that this is the time. Here are four Sept blog posts on these and related topics:

The Census knows the growth and potential explosion of care needs and older adults. Consider their newly published document explaining the industries to those who may still not see what’s happening. "Assisted Living Facilities for the Elderly saw a 34.4% increase in revenue from 2013 to 2020.  Home Health Care Services experienced an even larger increase – 50.5% -- during the same period." These assertions are built on the Service Annual Survey (2021).   The U.S. Census Bureau projects that in 2050, the U.S. population ages 65 and over will be 83.9 million, nearly double what it was (43.1 million) in 2012.

 A well-known consulting firm assesses the growing care gap. Boston Consulting Group analyzed the care crisis recently asserts that the lack of paid or unpaid care workers to provide care of children or aging parents may prevent them from filling unfilled jobs, noting the 99 million people today who are not in the workforce. y do an interesting analysis built around the premise that some people who could work do not because of care responsibilities. The conclusion -- the one hand, quality affordable care could be subsidized so that more would want to do the work, filling the unfilled care jobs (day care, elder care). And family members could thus remain in jobs that they would otherwise abandon to provide care. Okay, hard to argue with this macro view, but there are some key points missing. Take a look at Exhibit One in the document which asserts that nearly 50 million people, aged 18-64, could become part of the care labor force, particularly those that have children and remain at home to care for them.

The perfect storm has arrived to drive tech adoption in the home and care services. So many factors converge now that were highlighted during the pandemic – consider the need for telehealth services as an alternative to in-person visits. The lack of broadband access for older adults limited vaccine sign-up or even communication with families or friends. The slow rollout of Wi-Fi in senior living was, to say the least, a miscalculation about the future. And last, but not least, the worsening staffing shortage, noted for years throughout the older adult service industry, is now a full-blown crisis. And the shortages in home care, home healthcare, skilled nursing facilities and senior living are juxtaposed with an overall labor shortage, just as the oldest baby boomer has turned 76 and has significant remaining life expectancy. Consider that older adults remain in hospitals and rehab facilities because there are no workers to help them with care at home. And that's just today.

In the time of CES 2022 – advice to tech firms about older adults. Perhaps you aren't paying attention -- but once per year, innovations from around the world are presented at CES for comment, media attention, and most of all, seeking interest about what's new (or even just envisioned). This year it is a hybrid event -- with some folks in person, some watching online and others lurking among the press releases. Next week's blog post will detail 10 products/services from CES 2022 that will likely make a difference for older adults. But this week, here is advice for startups and new entrants when thinking about reaching an older adult audience. It is extracted from the Technology for Aging 2022 Market Overview, to be posted following CES, and including 30 offerings that were not in the 2021 version. Read more.