Five worrisome aging and health blog posts from August 2023

August, so warm, so replete with nursing home doomsayers and endless scam calls.  You may be one of the dwindling population (34% are homeowners) who have landlines in the US (even digital phone-service based). You may feel like it is a waste, especially given the remarkably robust phone-scam industry populated in noisy call centers by reps who know nothing about the so-called Do Not Call list, and whose measurement must be based on getting you to pick up the phone again and again.  Your relatives only text. Even your dentist and doctor prefer text. So why keep it? Maybe you run a business and need to call clients. Maybe you are legitimately afraid of not being found by emergency services (see below).  Maybe you are an older adult living alone and just want to chat with someone.  Here are the five blog posts from August:

Taking stock of the tech market for older adults – what’s happened? Past the halfway mark in 2023, it’s increasingly clear that the older adult tech market has been disrupted by changes in demand. It is increasingly transformed by new technologies emerging from new funding sources, multiple forms of tech disruption, and entrepreneurial initiatives. Some might say that tech adoption is slow in some sectors, but it is not for lack of widespread funding sources and innovator motivation. What is the context for technology change in 2023? Read more.

You may not have noticed much about the death of landlines. But it has been underway for a while, and now the government is supporting their demise. For some time now, telephone companies like AT&T have been trying to eliminate landlines and are no longer required to maintain these copper connections. You probably think, well that must be good, because those landlines cost as much as $55/month. So that’s a cost savings, right? But wait -- what if emergency services can't find the caller from a cell phone? Read more.

Five technologies to mitigate social isolation. Social isolation has become an insidious problem among older adults. It’s at the point where the surgeon general recently declared it to be a serious health risk: "29% increased risk of heart disease, a 32% increased risk of stroke, and a 50% increased risk of developing dementia for older adults. Additionally, lacking social connection increases risk of premature death by more than 60%. Certainly one factor is the growth in the number of older adults living alone, including 44% of women aged 75+. Technology’s role in mitigating it is being studied in research programs and healthcare. In one study of studies, the authors concluded that while it seems apparent that it can be helpful, specific technologies were not studied separately. In another pilot program, Talking Tech, participants were surveyed as being less lonely following increased technology literacy and access to tools to connect with others and boost social interactions. And in New York State, AI companion robot ElliQ to 800 seniors reportedly resulted in a "95% reduction in loneliness." Read more.

It's news -- 600 nursing homes closed so what’s the strategy to fix? Rant on. You may have read a depressing article this morning in the Wall Street Journal about the number of people stuck in hospitals with no place to go because there are no nursing homes to take them – which is the status in the UK’s National Health System (NHS). That was an embarrassment in the UK – and it is a scandal in the US. It never should not have gotten to this point. So many factors crushed nursing homes -- Covid and Private Equity nursing home ownership were players, followed by a government strategy to undermine them. For 14 years, Florida banned new nursing home construction. The federal “Money Follows the Person” was introduced in 2005 to enable seniors to avoid them and receive Medicaid-paid services. Reauthorized repeatedly, it is now authorized through 2027. Is that good? Read more.

The scam: You may know someone of Medicare age with a phone? Since age data is widely available, and even well-organized lists are available for purchase, it is not surprising that phones of older adults ring multiple times per day. Did you know that 60% of all phone calls in the US are robocalls or spam? This, despite ostensible government efforts to prevent continued use and/or resale of the lists. Sometimes the call begun with a recording about possible additional Medicare Advantage benefits that are available. But this is sloppy scamming based on weak data – maybe the caller only knows phone numbers, not age, despite spoofing the geographic location so that it appears to be a neighborhood call. Next, the robocall is then transferred to a ‘supervisor’ in a noisy call center who then attempts to obtain actual age, and whether the call recipient has Medicare. Presumably after that step is successful, the annoying so-called ‘Medicare Advantage’ pitch can begin. Read more.