I have heard from a number of folks in recent months about the businesses they are starting, some number of whom have published what they want to do or are doing on the Forum link on this site. So I would like to ask and answer a few questions about doing so. In particular:
As we celebrate our holidays (or don't) -- maybe surrounded by our aging parents (or maybe not) -- let's give some thought to how older people connect with others, stay safe and well, and keep on contributing to the world around them. Here are five reminders about care about our older relatives, things we can all initiate, that have some technology elements. This advice is, of course, easier to give than it is to follow.
This has been going on for some time -- the slow or no growth in the home security industry -- and the potential for expanding into a new line of business offering Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS), aka 'medical alarms'. This security industry article outlines the great opportunity for home security providers and their 'rapid response' (RMR) call center vendors.
Music therapy on iPods. Let's start with a quote from today's WSJ article, which gets right to the point: "Ann Povodator, an 85-year-old Alzheimer's patient in Boynton Beach, Fla., listens to her beloved opera and Yiddish songs every day on an iPod with her home health aide or her daughter when she comes to visit.
November is National Caregivers Awareness Month -- and with those 85+ turning out to be the fastest growing population in the US, we know there are many stressed caregivers out there. And more to come, with 65% of those over 65 will require some long-term care during their lives.
I was compelled to attend. AAHSA 2009 "Changing Lives" Conference -- 9000 people, 425 exhibitors. This was a beautiful (and may soon be gone) venue -- McCormick Place Lakeside Center. Gorgeous multi-story windows facing the 180 degree panorama of nearly boat-free Lake Michigan.
Okay -- it's another rant. Last week at a UCLA panel I was on, an exasperated audience member asked for a definition of 'senior', annoyed at what sounded like stereotypical patronizing about technology use. I stupidly responded that it was a census definition of age 65+. Actually the census categorizes percentages multiple ways: 60-plus, 62-plus, 65-plus, and 75-plus. Wish everyone did that. Sixty-five is the year of Medicare eligibility, it was once the year for pensions and mandatory retirement and for many it is the year of full Social Security eligibility. It has been used as a political demographic, synonymous with 'seniors' as in the example of the $250 stimulus check to seniors.
Internet use reduces depression in the elderly by 20%. Whew. I've got to read those news alerts more carefully -- looks like I missed quite a bit of press about the October 15 announcement of a Phoenix Center Policy Paper of data analysis and conclusion by George Ford and Sherry Ford. The news articles about the study are quite confusing -- mixing up terminology (elderly? seniors?) so let's look more closely at the process that produced the conclusion.
The truth about cars. As a society, we're not getting any younger. And our driving is going to imperil us, sooner or later, as this Times article painfully illustrates.
