Technology For Aging: A Case Study

Currently technology and the aging population have an uneasy relationship based on the readings and powerpoint of this week unit. There have been major technological advancements over the years and technology hasn’t fully met the expectations of the baby boomers. In the powerpoint, it was reported that the majority of the population who is over 65 years old, poses many challenges and opportunities to design intelligent technology that will meet the aging population expectations (Madjaroff 2016). Today, the baby boomers actively using more technology to connect to the internet, for social media, for services or to play video games. According to the powerpoint, in 2000 only 24% of older adults used the internet on an average day and by 2010 about …show more content…
Orlov (2012) in the reading on “ Technology for Aging in Place 2012 Market Overview” said that “80% of older adults live in their homes today with 40% of those 85 years and older”. Most older adults prefer to stay in their homes which will eventually reshape the markets to provide additional technology based products and services for older adults (Orlov 2012). Today, there are different products and services available to the aging population such as telemedicine mentioned in the powerpoint which allows older adults to take home clinical devices to monitor their healths and avoid multiple visits to their doctors. Another genius invention that was mentioned by Ludden (2010) in her NPR report on “ High-Tech Aging: Tracking Seniors ' Every Move” are motion sensors that help track senior’s every move by allowing their adult children or care taker to receive alerts with a phone call or text message when anything unusual happens. All these inventions prove that technology in the next year will rise to the …show more content…
For example, the article on "Japan Looks to Technology to Solve Aging Population Woes" talked about electric wheelchairs and smart homes that will help older adults with mobility. Yamaha motors has designed self powered and motor-assisted wheelchairs for elderly. Another example in the article, “Learning to ride mass transit equals independence for older people,” discuss the importance of easy of access and safe public transportation for older adults to help them maintain their independence. With a reliable transportation system, older adults will be able to engage more in different activities and maintain good relationship with their communities. Also, the NPR video, “Aging at home: helping seniors stay put,” talked about a new market for homebuilders to design unique trendy homes for older adults based on their needs and desires that will allow them to live independently in their homes. Other technologies that can be useful for those aging will be mobile devices like tablets and PDAs customized for older adults use, and video communication like smart TVs on which they can use