senior living

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.

The title should not surprise. The month of April had only one subject – no matter where you looked or what you read. Covid-19 and its impact and implications, starting early in the month following event cancellations, travel bans and stampedes, telehealth insurance changes and senior living visitation lockdowns. That was followed by a collection of companies offering free services for use of their technologies in the context of an increasingly isolated older adult population in senior living communities, nursing homes and at home. But it was a conundrum: so many of those older adults lacked access to or knowledge of technology, let alone the ability to acquire it, learn how to use it or participate in family Zoom sessions. In case you missed them, here are five Covid-19 blog posts from an April that was unlike any other:

No understatement, these are very difficult times for nursing homes. First off, thousands of residents have died, and news media organizations are now obsessed with counting and re-counting, totaling up the numbers (more than 10,000 as of today) and then counting some more. So many of the 1.5 million residents of nursing homes were already very frail people, needing help with 3 or more ADLs. 72% of residents are women, most are age 85+, and as noted, 'many also have only a small group of family and friends for support.' Yet there are people who should know better lined up to bash their performance at managing this virus: "If there was any type of senior-care facility that should have been most equipped to manage the COVID crisis, it should have been skilled nursing facilities," said Brian Lee, a former Florida long-term care ombudsman who currently is a member of an advocacy group called Families for Better Care." Right.

Note the wave of announcements of 'free' tech services and sea changes. A number of companies popped into my inbox in the past week with announcements of a period of free access to remote care/engagement technologies – including and in alphabetical order CareCentrix, CareTree, Ergo, Eversound, Outpatient, Ready Responders, NurseCaller, Touchtown, StaySmartCare, See You Link and VitalTech. If your firm is in the remote care/caregiving space (health, telehealth, engagement), please comment or email and I will add to this list. And our family doctor’s staff initiated an offer of a Facetime (or Skype or Hangouts or other choice) for a follow-up visit instead of going into the office. Note the other ‘temporary’ change of reimbursement for remote (even telephone) visits, now fitting into the concept of telehealth. The ‘tipping point’ of telehealth is here – and tipping with a suddenness that is unnerving for overstretched vendors and most notably, difficult for providers who may lack the equipment and/or processes to deal with patients remotely, despite the risks to themselves with in-person interaction.

The world is spinning from the events of March 2020. At the beginning of the month, it made sense to publish a Market Overview about tech for older adults that did not link all tech to Covid-19, and by the end of the month every single news item, announced business initiative, investor prediction, startup messaging, university project, and technology topic was only about Covid-19. It’s almost quaint to look at where the month began since publishing the 2020 Market Overview of Technology for Aging on March 5. The technologies noted are as relevant today as they were on March 5 – however, their application as the list of press releases notes, may be different. Telehealth is suddenly as critical as it always should have been. Smart home (and enablement of remote interactions matters more than it ever has.) From the month: