smartphones, cellphones

Technology changes faster than older people can keep up.  The latest Android or iPhone is entering the market shortly. Those who may have thought they just HAD the latest, are presented again with modest technological change and plenty of hype. Those that still hang on to much older cell phones will again consider a change -- and surely sales reps want to move the current models before the newest ones crowd the shelves.  But boomers, for example, don’t use their phones in the same way younger people do. And only 50% of seniors age 75+ even have Internet access. So first there is a technology ownership gap, then an access gap, then finally a training gap that must be closed. Here are 6 methods for gaining training in devices and software, with descriptive text drawn from their various websites.

LEARN: How does useful technology find the older adults who need it?  The new tech laundry list is a staple of our fast-paced tech times. What is new right now, this minute that could, might, or maybe be useful to older adults -- six new technologies for this, five more for that. An exhibit area at aging-related event features more than 50 startup logos – pitches for pilots and advice on preparing to pilot.  Perhaps a technology could fill a real need of frail seniors – like a wearable band that notes dehydration and suggests a drink. Note that Nobo’s B60 was developed for athletes and the doctors that treat them. The company is aware of the senior need, but it might take a proactive third party to pull them towards that opportunity.

Information is online – people need to be there too.  News, bank branches, health advice, streaming radio, borrowing books from libraries– it’s all making inroads in our connected lives.  Consider: Netflix has 42 million US subscribers, half of Americans have listened to Internet radio. But what is the significance of fewer people having broadband access in their homes? Broadband access has a correlation between well-being and wellness (hats off to that Health Populi post!).  Is it the link between being over 50 and finding a job? Perhaps you are checking online to protect from Internet fraud; verifying that an identity hasn’t been stolen; checking out an eBook or using another online service from a library; including training on how to use the Internet. Or perhaps you are buying from the dominant US retail growth engine – hint, it's not Walmart, but Amazon.

User interfaces are poorly designed – so a new inclusive one must be designed.  A $20 million grant just went to the University of Wisconsin to contribute to a user interface design that could help many deal with technology that has been designed without them in mind. Professor Gregg Vanderheiden says: "There are many people who, because of disability, literacy, digital literacy or aging, can't use the technologies they encounter. As a society we are designing the world out from under these people. When a person encounters something with a digital interface — a computer, Web page, TV, themostat (for the iPhone generation) -- the interface on the device or Web page instantly and automatically changes into a form that the person can understand and use."

Louisville, Kentucky is the aging-industry capital of the United States. The city is a very big player in long-term care, host to a variety of "headquarters in nursing home, rehabilitation, assisted living and home health administration." Last week the city (and a variety of its long-term care industry sponsors) ran an industry summit that included two days of sessions and a bevy of live pitches. It is striking to contemplate the simultaneous growing blur and yet near-complete disconnect between health-related innovations involving doctors and the world of aging care. There has long been a need for disruptive innovation in the long-term care industry -- which, like the health care industry overall, struggles with lower reimbursements, which in turn have resulted in further industry consolidation.