How technology design is (finally) catching up with our elders

In 2012 my mother was diagnosed with aggressive endometrial cancer. I’d been designing healthcare technology and mentoring entrepreneurs at health tech incubator Aging 2.0 — but nothing professionally prepared me for this personal challenge. My mom needed care daily at home in Italy, and I was working in California. There were many decisions to be made, and fast. Where to begin?

The truth is, no one teaches us how to care for our elders — and sooner rather than later, we’re going to need help. By 2014, 46.2 million Americans had reached age 65 or older. That’s one out of every seven Americans.

Live long … and prosper?

The good news is that we’re living longer — but increasingly, we can’t go it alone. According to AARP’s January, 2016 Caregiver Innovation Frontiers Report, 117 million Americans are expected to need assistance by 2020 from about 40 million unpaid caregivers. Yet with a median net worth of $156,000 (inclusive of home equity) for Americans aged 75+, many can’t afford 24/7 care in an assisted living facility. Instead, Americans are staying at home as long as we’re able. The move-in age to residential care is now mid-80s.

So the challenge before designers today is clear: we need to catch up with our elders. Living a long, rich life shouldn’t be impossible, or cost the moon. We need to find new ways for our elders to live as independently as they want, while ensuring they feel cared for, connected and safe. Caregivers need support too, as we navigate an increasingly complex medical establishment.

Better elder living by design

I’m proud to report that we’re making progress. In the years since my mom’s diagnosis, many supportive technologies have launched to extend medical care, ensure safety, support elder independence, assist aging in place, coordinate caregiving and manage costs. Below are some that I find especially promising — but this list is by no means complete. Please add your favorites. That way, when we need to care for our elders, we’ll be prepared together.

Patient independence

One of the most traumatic consequences of illness for elder patients is the loss of personal independence — and with it, a sense of identity and self-worth. Technology can make it easier to manage hospital discharges, recovery, physical therapy, home care and other living essentials to retain independence.

Voice-controlled assistants

  • Amazon Echo — Smart home device integration, streaming entertainment and shopping delivery
  • Google Home — Useful for answering questions (medications, recipes, traffic)

Smartphone apps designed for enhanced accessibility

  • Breezie — Open-source platform with accessible features, including large type and simplified interface for using communication tools, Kindle and web

Food/groceries ordering

  • Check with your local grocery chains about whether they have an ordering and delivery app
  • Instacart — Groceries delivered quickly from local stores, like Costco and Whole Foods

Exercise apps

  • MapMyWalk GPS-enabled walking routes with accurate distance and location tracking
  • Apple HealthKit and Google Fit offer integration with multiple exercise apps and devices, include a pedometer and come free with your smartphone operating system

Physical Therapy apps

  • Trainer RX — Comprehensive physical therapy exercises featuring instructional videos

Accessibility maps

Google Maps — Now tells you whether a location is wheelchair-accessible

Sensible healthcare education

  • MedLine Plus — Health information from the National Library of Medicine
  • Mayo Clinic — Medical information from the country’s best-rated hospital by US News Health

Locate your phone.

Placeable sensors for keys, wallet etc.

  • Tile — Find your lost items quickly with Tile’s Bluetooth tracker, which connects wirelessly to mobile devices

Communication devices for hearing and vision loss (telephones, captioning)

Reading aid apps

Safety and security

As our elders age, our roles reverse. They want to be independent and enjoy life, while we worry about their safety and security. Will they fall out of bed, or slip on the sidewalk? Did they remember to lock the door, or turn off the stove? Technology is providing caregivers new ways to ensure elders’ well-being and safety — without cramping their style.

Remote patient-monitoring platforms (location, status, schedules, care teams, patient phone battery status)

  • Independa — Smart TV featuring video calls to caregiver Independa app, with reminders and one-click emergency calls
  • GreatCall — Phones and wearables featuring patient medical profile and quick connection to emergency Dispatch
  • CareAngel — Automated daily check-in calls and guidance for medical conditions

Coordinate care among multiple caregivers (calendar for appointments, scheduling meals and errands, messaging)

Track patient activity remotely

  • Care|Mind — Review activity and sleep via FitBit HR, and set alerts to notify caregivers about changes from a normal day

Patient location monitoring connected to smartphone apps

  • Piper — Bluetooth beacons with long-lasting battery, wearable or mountable, for indoor and outdoor use
  • SmartSoles with GPS for shoes — Wearable GPS tracker for those prone to wandering
  • Wisewear connected jewelry with GPS trackers

Remote door locks and alarm setups with camera monitoring

  • ADT Security — App-enabled home security and monitoring and fall alert devices
  • KwikSet Kevo App-enabled smart locks

Fall and accident monitoring

  • Medical Guardian — Medical alert devices with live operators responding to assess emergency needs
  • Life Call — Waterproof devices designed to detect falls and trigger 2-way conversation with emergency services
  • MobileHelp — GPS-enabled medical alert service that tracks user location

Remote monitoring for heating, smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors

  • Nest — Smart home device that learns from use and adjusts services accordingly

Automated app-enabled illumination systems

  • Lutron — App-enabled management of house lights, shades and temperature through a smartphone or tablet

Inactivity sensors connected to caregivers and clinical facilities

  • Smart Caregiver — Bed, chair and home sensors to monitor inactivity or unexpected exits

Medical support

Do you know all the medications your parents are taking, what they’re for, and how they interact? They might not, either. Nearly 80% of older Americans live with multiple chronic conditions that are tricky to manage. Caregivers are essential to help fill prescriptions, administer multiple medications with different directions and side effects, monitor adherence, and schedule visits for each condition. Technology can assist caregivers and put minds at ease by coordinating trips to the doctor, monitoring body functions and checking medication adherence.

At-home, 24/7 telemedicine

  • Check with your healthcare facility for available telemedicine services
  • WhatsApp — Easier to use than Skype, encrypted, free and key for international communication

Remote vitals monitoring and connected medical devices with caregiver data-sharing

  • Clinical heart rate monitor
  • AliveCor — Medical-grade EKG anytime, anywhere with instant analysis

Diabetes eating plans

  • Thrive 365 — Food blood-glucose scoring system includes restaurant chain menu items database and meal logging

Diabetes blood sugar monitoring apps

  • Medtronic — Manage your insulin pump and glucose monitor via smartphone app, share your data with family members and send alerts of high and low glucose readings
  • Glooko — Excellent product interface to synch lifestyle data, pump data and cgm from 40+ different devices, plus create reports for your medical team
  • Dexcom — More limited app featuring CGM and data sharing

Medical condition tracking platform

  • CareZone — Securely manage care ecosystem (medications, appointments, symptoms, photos and images)

Medication list management for patients and caregivers

  • Walgreens — App and web portal to manage medication, organize payments and verify insurance co-pay
  • CVS — Manage and track family members’ (including children’s) prescription history
  • Express Scripts — Enable caregivers to manage your medication needs

Prescription refills/renewals via mobile app and website

Home delivery for medications

Appointment scheduling and reminders

  • Ask your clinical facilities about digital appointment scheduling options

Medication adherence technology (ensuring patients take their medications).

  • MediSafe — Effective, easy-to-use app for medication management, featuring missed medication alerts for caregivers
  • Mango health — Manage medication regimen, track weight and blood pressure

Medications side effects checklist

  • MedWatcher — Track and report side effects for the medications you’re taking

Financial wellness

When illness leaves patients incapacitated, someone’s got to make sure the bills get paid — but caregivers may not have access to bills, account information and other key financial records. Technology solutions can relieve the burden by automating the majority of recurring financial operations, and providing ways to assist with finances remotely when needed.

Financial accounts management, aggregation and bill tracking

  • Mint — Easy-to-use financial management portal to at gregate your accounts and track bills, payments and spending

Share Bill and pay for services with other family members.

  • PayPal — Easy payments to an email address or phone number; works internationally
  • Venmo — Social payment app with sharing component that provides an easy, public way to make payments; a PayPal product

Get help

Watching an elder’s illness progress is tough. Whether we live nearby or far away, we never feel like we’re doing enough — and we often wonder if we’re doing the right thing. But caregiving is a long-term commitment and a learning process. We have to pace ourselves, and learn to make the best use of our time with our elders. Technology-assisted services help us find skilled elder care professionals to ease the burden, and supplement the care we provide.

Find caregivers

  • CareLynx — Personal, thorough caregiver information and vetting featuring detailed reviews and consultation; caregivers set prices according to experience
  • Honor — Simple, fast caregiver locator with automatic matching to get care fast
  • Hometeam — Focused on long-term caregiver selection

Better than flying cars

These are just some of the many thoughtful, effective solutions designers have offered to improve elders’ lives in the past few years — and I wish my mom could see them all. Back in 2012, her choices were limited. She wanted to remain at home, in charge of her own meals, visits and treatment. We found ways to make that work, but mundane tasks took up a lot of our time together. That time was precious, and limited. Being her caretaker clarified my purpose as a designer: to spare people time and trouble, when it counts the most.Because flying cars may be cool, but elder tech is the future.