Technology Transforming Senior Services in the United States
Over the last decade technology has created a whole new world – largely geared to the young. Within recent years, a newer wave of technology is changing the world for older people, too, by delivering new options that help people to live longer and more independently wherever they choose to call home.
At Ecumen’s Lakeview Commons in Maplewood, Minnesota, residents use touch‐screen computers to test – and polish – their mental skills.
“It rates us in various categories,” explains Honor Hacker as she challenges her brain with a computer program that tests abilities inmath, geography, music, vocabulary, spatial relationships, instantrecall and more. The program by Dakim called (m)Power, is as entertaining as it is good for brain, she says. Fill‐in‐the‐word games, real‐life math challenges and other puzzlers mix with colorful visuals and rapidly shifting tasks to keep her eyes riveted on the screen. “I use it every day,” says Hacker, 82 and a retired high‐school social studies teacher. “It’s fun.”
“And challenging,” adds Virginia Kemp, 83, who is sitting next to her to work the program, too. “It’s like playing a game, like the kids have their video games. They want to win, and we want to win.”
Winning, in this case, means scoring higher than they did last time. Each time they “play,” they get a score that determines how its level of difficulty will be adjusted the next time they log on. In other words, when they “win,” it gets harder –and that’s what they like. Backed by scientific research, the program is built to challenge older people’s minds in ways that can preserve – and strengthen –cognitive abilities, says Kathy Bakkenist , Ecumen’s chief operating officer and senior vice president of strategy and operations. She says Lakeview Commons residents who use the program tell her, “ ‘It helps us keep our brains active.’ ”
The brain game is one of several technologies Ecumen has acquired to benefit residents in its communities. “We seek to be a leader in using technology to enhance people’s lives and to help transform aging services,” she says. “We also see it as a way to differentiate our services in the marketplace.” But leaders in the aging services field say introducing new technology is much more than a smart business move. They call it a must.
Ecumen is “on the forefront,” says Andrew Carle, nationally known for coining the term “nana technology” to identify innovations that improve seniors’ quality of life. “They’re not optional. They’re mandatory,” says Carle, who managed hospitals and senior housing before joining the faculty at George Mason University, where he directs a program in assisted living/senior housing administration. “We have to focus on the priorities, get away from bells and whistles and the ‘toy thing’ and concentrate on what can really make a difference. And then get the cost down. “
Technologies that help provide care and well‐being will be essential as people live longer and a huge baby boom generation – those born between 1946 and 1964 – edges into retirement and later life, he says.
By 2030, one of every five people in the United States will be 65 or older, compared to 12 percent in that age group now. And by 2050, there will be more than a million people over age 100. “We have to have technology to help seniors live independently, or to allow one’s caregiver to be as productive as three or four are today,” he says. “Or we’re not going to have enough professional caregivers.”
Eric Dishman, general manager for health, research and innovation for the California‐based Intel Corp., backs up Carle’s theory. “We have health care that’s already unaffordable,” he says, “millions of uninsured Americans and 45 million seniors, with 67 million waiting in the wings of retirement. That’s going to put a huge burden on the health care system.” Dr. Michael Magee, son of a house‐call‐making doctor and director of the Pfizer Medical Humanities Initiative, frames the challenge this way: “how to increase services for three times as many seniors while reducing health‐care costs.”
How is technology becoming part of the solution? Continue reading by downloading the whitepaper below.
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