We’re really trying to think about how are baby boomers as seniors going to be different and what types of technologies and services might they use to manage their own personal health and wellness in ways we can’t yet imagine.

-Eric Dishman

Aging in Place Technology

Eric Dishman has had aging in place in his sights for many years. As Director of Health Innovation and Policy for Intel’s Digital Health Group, he has been driving innovation to keep boomers and seniors home by choice. Seeing his own grandmother suffering from Alzhemisr’s Disease, he began later in life to wonder if there might be a better way to help families age in place; and could technology help?

Dishman was on a quest…What might be done differently? What kind of technologies need to be created to enable older adults to maintain a sense of purpose, a connection to caregivers, and freedom to go on with their daily lives at home and in the community? And how might our concepts of “neighborhood” or “community” and “health care” change employing technology? Further, how can aging in place technologies be made affordable for everyone?

Oregon Center for Aging and Technology

At the Oregon Center for Aging and Technology (ORCAT) Dishman, who is also the founder, has eloquently distilled *three areas of opportunity for emerging technologies:

1. Social Engagement and support for seniors facing an epidemic of isolation

2. Prevention of–and early intervention for–illness and injury before it becomes catastrophic

3. Monitoring and management of chronic disease from the home, not the hospital bed

-Independent for Life: Homes and Neighborhoods for an Aging America; P. 100

Eric Dishman has uncommon insight into the issues of “sick care” vs. “pro-active preventative care” and is researching how to leverage technologies to limit human suffering and enhance our experience of aging.  These three key areas are the scaffolding around which to build a successful aging in place plan for the individual and community.

See

Eric Dishman The 4 C’s of Healthcare

*Independent for Life: Homes and Neighborhoods for an Aging America; University of Texas Press / Austin, 2012

Universal Design: Dwell

More on Eric Dishman to follow next post

(photo static.sharecare.com)

7 Tweet