Last week I attended another one day aging & tech conference. But it was very different in feel compared to most events I go to, because this one was not hosted by an organization with an entrepreneurial background. Instead, the event was hosted by an aging services non-profit: the Institute on Aging (IOA). (Conference agenda is here.)
For those who aren’t familiar with the IOA,: it’s a terrific organization that has spearheaded a number of innovations related to better care of older adults over the past 30 years, including launching the first fellowships in geriatrics and creating the Friendship Line, the nation’s only crisis hotline to address isolation and suicide risk in seniors. (For more on the history of the IOA, see here.) The IOA has also often collaborated with the City and County of San Francisco on aging services.
This conference provided continuing education credits for nurses, social workers, therapists, attorneys, and residential facility providers. So the audience mainly seemed to be those individuals, rather than entrepreneurs and innovators.
This struck me as a bit of a pity, because the content of the talks seemed more focused on what aging people need — rather than how to make your entrepreneurial venture succeed — and I think the more entrepreneurs can hear about this, the better.
In truth, my overall impression was that this conference was “by the aging community, for the aging community” whereas most tech and innovation conferences are “by the innovation business community, for the innovation business community.”
Is there a way to merge these two groups more?? I don’t know the answer to that.
At the end of this post, I’ve embedded the Storify with all my tweets from the day, which hopefully will share a sense of the event, for those who weren’t able to attend.
A few particular talks that I really enjoyed
Anne Hinton, Executive Director of San Francisco’s Dept of Aging & Adult Services. I was very glad to hear her talk about the city’s efforts to integrate technology into their services, as it’s important for civic agencies to modernize and leverage new technologies.
Also very interesting was to learn more about SFConnected.org, a City & County of San Francisco (CCSF) initiative providing “free computer tutoring and support to seniors and adults with disabilities” and a related SF Tech Council, which is a community-based “nonprofit-government-business partnership.”
Unfortunately, the most recent proposed budget for the CCSF included funding for the Tech Council but not for more community computer trainings. There is a little more information at SFHealthyAging.org, but in general I find that the information on this topic is a little scattered and it’s too bad they don’t have a stronger social media presence. I’m sure many people can benefit from these initiatives but I’m not sure how many people in SF — whether the public or those providing services to seniors — are familiar with them.
David Lindeman, Director of Center for Technology & Aging (CTA), & Co-Director of the UC Center for Innovation & Technology in Public Health. I always enjoy hearing Lindeman speak, as the CTA does really good work on connected aging. I especially appreciate that Lindeman addresses the importance of chronic disease management, functional limitations, and caregiver involvement, when he talks about supporting aging adults.
Implementing a new innovation is 10% about the technology and 90% about adoption and deployment.
Jack Lloyd, Inventor & Entrepreneur. Ok, it’s not fair to highlight a speaker’s age only when they are older, but Jack Lloyd is 77 and it was really fantastic to see someone like him on stage, because we benefit from having more dynamic and insightful older adults presenting at these events, since we can benefit from their knowledge and experience. (Lloyd’s insights made me think of Chip Conley’s talk at the Aging 2.0 summit, in which he shared the value of being a “modern elder.”)
Lloyd invented the pulse ox and later founded a company that provided home telemonitoring for heart failure. Now he’s interested in aging adults who live at home, and founded SafeInHome.com, a system of home sensors that can alert family caregivers if an older person stops moving around the house as usual, or leaves the stove on. The San Jose Mercury News has a good story about Lloyd & his work here.
Richard Caro, co-founder Tech-Enhanced Life. Tech-Enhanced Life has created a Longevity Collective of “Citizen Observers, Evaluators, & Makers” to identify, trial, review, and evaluate better solutions to overcoming the challenges that come with growing older.
Richard Caro of @Morequalys: goal is for #tech to push back decline @IOASFBAY @richardgcaro #aging pic.twitter.com/97BXYM4p82
— Leslie Kernisan, MD (@GeriTechBlog) May 27, 2015
I was of course thrilled to see Caro kick off his talk with a slide calling on new technologies to help stave off functional decline. (Amen!) This is exactly what we need technologies to do, along with help people manage their ongoing health conditions to prevent complications and delay decline.
Also fantastic is that Caro has helped organize discussion groups, in which older adults (aged 60-100+) meet to talk about solutions to common aging problems. He correctly notes that many older adults are pining to feel useful, and their experiences and knowledge should be tapped to “co-create” the future of aging. See here for more info.
Barbara Beskind, designer at IDEO. I saw Beskind speak last week at the Aging 2.0 Summit; she’s famous for getting hired at IDEO at age 90, and is a military veteran with an occupational therapy background.
This talk was WAY better than last week’s talk, which surprised me as I’d been expecting Beskind to say the same things.
In this talk, Beskind spoke much more personally, about her experiences as an aging adult. She told the story of how she was hospitalized after a fall and fracture at age 89, and subsequently moved from New Englad to California to be closer to family.
She recommended we all consider taking our next vacation in memory care, or as a recipient of whatever type of care we’re usually providing. (Now there’s a way to generate empathy!)
She explained that in her residential facility, everyone is worried about outliving their money. She also explained that it’s a huge strain to be constantly trying to communicate with a foreign-born caregiver who doesn’t speak good English, and recommended that apps be provided to help with the translation.
She talked about the fact that most walkers are made for people in rehab, who are 25% weight-bearing, and that this is all wrong for most older people, who are being forced to lean forward and don’t get to alternate their arm/leg swing as they should. She modified trekking poles for her own use and calls them her go-go-sticks.
In short, she spoke eloquently about the many challenges that she and her peers face as they age, and she offered lots of insights on how we can better engage in helping with those challenges.
I wish she’d been videotaped, but I don’t think she was.
And I’ll stop there for now. For more on what was covered in the conference, see the Storify below.
