A Technology Safety Net for Elders to Age in Place?

A few weeks ago I blogged about the technology innovations announced as part of the 2015 White House Conference on Aging. I was interested to read a July 24, 2015 article in the NY Times on the use of technology as a sort of “safety net” for elders.  Technology, While Not a Fountain of Youth, Can Make Aging Safer highlights a number of different services and technologies that can allow a person to remain at home and independent longer.  The article quotes Dr. Laura Carstensen , the Director of the Stanford Center on Longevity, who said “[i]n three to five years, aging will be transformed… We are in the early stages of seeing what technology can do. Nursing homes will become like the poorhouses of yore as technology makes living at home easier….”

I found the various technologies discussed in the article quite fascinating (and of course, I want to try them out right now). The article recognizes there is some ramp up time to a comfort level in using technology, especially for digital immigrants who still have something of a learning curve to adopting such new technologies. 

The article referenced Dr. Joseph Coughlin, Director of MIT’s AgeLab, who notes that “[d]espite the awkwardness that can accompany the adoption of new technology …[he] predicts that technology will help people stay at home and manage their frailties far longer than they can today, when the average person who enters assisted living does so at 83.”  The article quotes Dr. Coughlin: “[o]ld age looks really good from here… [b]ut society must make sure that there’s still purpose to life too.”