Will results change when older adults are surveyed later this year? So we know that ‘remote care’ and ‘caring’ in its various forms, including telehealth, seem to be heating up as a priority, whether for senior living organizations, families, healthcare provider organizations, and putting more emphasis on the need for home healthcare and home care, especially in times in which the care workers hesitate to enter a home and which families are locked down and not visiting. Here is where we were on technology adoption at the start of the pandemic, and the wave of telehealth interest heated up. As one tech company told me, a one-year-pipeline compressed into a month of demand. And a plethora of companies raised their hands to offer their engagement technology for free. So if this is the baseline of adoption, what’s next when the surveys come around again?
ORANGE, Calif., June 3, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- GrandPad, creator of the first purpose-built tablet for people over 75, announced today the addition of connected device capabilities to its mobile device and telehealth platform to support virtual care and remote monitoring for healthcare providers. The expanded capabilities come at a time when an increasing number of home health agencies and other healthcare companies are turning to GrandPad to facilitate video visits during COVID-19 restrictions that prohibit in-person care.
Technology usage has climbed sharply during Covid-19. Pew Research notes 53% of responders in April consider the Internet as ‘Essential’– although, no surprise, the oldest did not. And Nielsen observed that the pandemic was a catalyst for the rise of tech use for working at home and shopping, among other uses. In addition, telehealth usage has skyrocketed, with virtual doctor visits expected by Forrester Research to top 1 billion by years end. The spike has been attributed to a) the declaration of a state of emergency in March; b) introduction of Medicare/Medicaid coverage matching in-person visits; and c) encouragement from hospitals and medical practitioners.
Companies continue to invent and introduce technology. In the face of the devastation and economic collapse precipitated by the pandemic, many tech firms soldier on, finding opportunity, re-spinning products, and announcing new capability. It is encouraging to see this sheer quantity of free offerings, accelerated interest in telehealth, and other innovations in smart homes, healthcare and robotics that have emerged in the past few months of the Covid-19 pandemic. Here are just five focused on older adults:
Seniors and technology – change is in the airwaves. In ways that could not have been anticipated six months ago, the technology marketplace (sellers and buyers) for older adults is accelerating in interest level and adoption. And that is likely an understatement. Following the reimbursement changes after in-person visits disappeared and numbers of visits exploded, firms with telehealth tech are finding a one-year-pipeline compressed into one month. The odds are, not confirmed yet, that Wi-Fi deployment, donation of tablets and online video tools, are all accelerating in the time of Covid-19, which will be confirmed in a future survey. Consider six intriguing examples – please send or comment with others if you have them: