The rush to develop caregiving products for boomers
Plastic bands that restrict movement and harnesses that make the body hunch over painfully may sound like just another late Saturday night for some, but they're just a few of the tools researchers are using to get a glimpse of what the aging of the baby boom generation might look like.
To see what the future might feel like, MIT’s Age Lab, a research center designed to develop technologies and services geared to today’s aging population, created a high tech suit that’s designed to inhibit movement and sensation to better understand the physical challenges associated with aging.
Dubbed AGNES, an acronym for Age Gain Now Empathy System, the suit is worn by product developers and marketing folks looking to feel what it might be like to be a lot older and, in many instances, well heeled.
It's all about Age Lab researchers calls “the longevity paradox” — the idea that, while people in many developed countries now live several decades longer than they once did, relatively few industries are really dedicated to helping people make those extra decades healthy and productive.
*Bing: Are boomers well prepared for the future?
Increasingly, companies come to the lab to better understand their target audience or to have their products, policies and services studied. It's only through this type of empathy, MIT says, that designers can really create better products and services.
As boomers age, for instance, many predict that there will be a shortage of healthcare professionals to tend to their needs, which means that more of the burden will fall on the household. That's why companies like GE are outfitting houses with hallway sensors to record walking speed.
Other monitors track every time someone enters or leaves the house, while others are attached to the bed to check heart rate and other vital signs.
Whether it's you or your parents, have you met up with companies who understand and properly serve aging boomers? What seems to be different?
By Gordon Powers, MSN Money
Posted by: MARIA KOSTIC | Nov 18, 2021 4:50:10 PM
REMOTE CONTROL:
CURTAINS, DOOR OPEN, VACUUM, FLOOR WASHER, SMALL DISHWASHER ON TOP OF COUNTER BUT VERY MODERN, S. A. D. LIGHTS, ETC. ETC.
SLIPPERS WITH A LITTLE HEEL BUT NOT SLEEPERY
WHIRLPOOL BATHTUB
FRENCH BIDET
SPEVIAL CHAIR AND MIRROR TO DO HAIR
SPECIAL RAZERS OR WAXES
BRING DOWN THE PRICES OF CONFORTABLE BEDS.
SPECIAL MATS
LUNETTES
ETC. ETC.
Posted by: Jack | Nov 18, 2021 8:13:16 PM
I am an aging boomer, and have no idea what this article is talking about. Everyone eventually gets old. What kind of question is "have you met up with companies who understand and properly serve aging boomers?" I have no idea what this means. I have everything I need and much more. Life just keeps getting better with age.
Posted by: sandy | Nov 21, 2021 8:15:15 AM
they do have special mats in long term care homes for falls out of bed...I think most of us need to educate ourselves if we have to move into a home..If you have parents there now go and see how they live day to day.
As far as the young ones coming on, they need to start to save for when they get older.
As far as Healthcare will not matter because if you cannot afford it who knows where you will end up going.
As far as developing caregiving products forget about it, you will need a caregiver to look after you.
Do you think all these products will be free another money maker. Think about the acutall people that will have to look after you, hopefully they will be trained well to do the job that is where your care will come from..
Posted by: Trixie | Nov 21, 2021 8:30:24 AM
There's a magazine that I get out of the USA, that delivers, of course, as I'm in Canada.
I'm not quite retired yet but I did look through it. When I grow old, this magazine has everything an aging person would ever want. The funny part is, I can't remember the name of the magazine. (I'll come back if I can.) Anyway, I believe that aging Canadians are set for life.
Posted by: karra | Nov 22, 2021 4:27:55 PM
Mother has a stairlift which is wonderful - she sits on it, pushes the button and up (or down) she goes. She has an electic scooter to go to the shops. She has a walker to get around the house, and home help once a week. All this makes it possible to live in her own home at 87 with diabetes and difficulty moving around from broken ribs and back bones in the last year or two.
Social Services (in England) provide and maimtain the stairlift and bath accessibilty devices and it's a good investment as it keeps her out of an old folks home, happier and healthier.