An impressive process was launched in 2013 at an AARP convention in Atlanta. Groups of older adults were shown how to use tablets. A presenter demonstrated and 4H volunteers sat at tables with the attendees to show them how to use them. The program was called Mentor Up – and the idea was that young people could/should volunteer to help older adults with a device that was unfamiliar and baffling. At that time, the iPad was just three years old. The older adults in the room almost certainly did not own one -- at that time, 26 million older adults were NOT online. So their surprise and delight at what it could do made an impression. The role of young people was equally impressive -- and should be a role model for today.
One might think that the Consumer Electronics Show is about consumer electronics. Not really. It is about tech concepts and possibilities, and possibly new or near-term products, that can lead to future products and/or distribution in the market. Whether in TVs, cars, drones, wearables, accessibility tech, home appliances or headsets, this international show with its 150,000 attendees has an ‘AI Everywhere’ (surprise!) theme. Attendees help both startups and established players to gain media and market attention and maybe even meet a few distribution partners or funders. Here are 10 from this year’s show:
HLTH 2024 wrapped up last week in Las Vegas – where else? AI was a big topic – transformational, embedded in health tech, capitalizing on the buzz. Or growing caution, concern about regulation, data quality issues, depending on the perspective. Others fretted about the state of healthcare in the US (not good), physician burnout (not good) and the health status of Americans, especially the mental health of young people (not good). All these despite the promise of AI-enablement of laborious processes, hospital at home, conversational AI, new drugs, and many tech innovations. Looking through the exhibitor list, fifty-eight companies self-identified as AgeTech at HLTH.
Senior living and nursing home executives weigh in on the role that AI may currently offer and will likely play in the future. They see the potential to optimize their workforce and obtain better insights about their residents' needs. Within a few years, AI will no longer be described as a separate category -- but its features of machine learning, customized vocabulary and conversational responses will be expected and provided.
A new study offers a conundrum, or maybe a marketing problem. Most Americans 50 and older don’t trust AI-generated health information, says a new poll published by the University of Michigan. But they do trust their own ability to figure out what information is good and what isn’t when they look for it. They say they trust WebMD, Healthline. And yet only 32% said it was easy to find accurate health advice. But how would you know what is accurate? And the 84% who said they got health information from a health care provider, pharmacist, friend or family member in the past year. A friend or family member? Really?
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Five years ago -- this site looked at the state of dementia-related technologies. The more things (the tech offerings) change, the more their purpose and function remain the same. Today there are websites that list gadgetry for managing and living with dementia. There are 
One might think that the Consumer Electronics Show is about consumer electronics. Not really. It is about tech concepts and possibilities, and possibly new or near-term products, that can lead to future products and/or distribution in the market. Whether in TVs, cars, drones, wearables, accessibility tech, home appliances or headsets, this international show with its 150,000 attendees has an ‘
HLTH 2024 wrapped up last week in Las Vegas – where else? AI was a big topic – transformational, embedded in health tech, capitalizing on the buzz. Or growing caution, 
A new study offers a conundrum, or maybe a marketing problem. Most Americans 50 and older don’t trust AI-generated health information, says a 