Age Tech: 2021 and Beyond

What is Age Tech? Age Tech is technology and services designed with and for older adults. Age Tech can help older adults live independently for longer. It also can help families, caregivers, and senior care professionals better manage care.

I have reviewed several Age Tech products on previous episodes of my Senior Tech Coffee podcast. They included NucleusCare, Serenity Engage, StackCare, Electronic Caregiver, and CarePenguin. 

This post is the companion piece for episode 30 of Senior Tech Coffee.

Age Tech products include:

• Mobile apps for caregivers and family members to communicate and stay informed of an older adult’s well-being.
• Devices to facilitate instant communications with family and caregivers.
• Systems using wearable or other technology for fall detection and vital health data collection.
• Systems to non-invasively monitor older adults’ well-being and report their activity – or conversely, raise alerts if no activity is detected.
• Wellness apps that promote physical and cognitive care or help alleviate hearing loss for older adults.
• Technology for healthcare and home care agencies to better manage their employees and caseloads.

Age Tech is a rapidly expanding part of both the technology and eldercare markets. My research led me to several highly informative resources on Age Tech – especially The Gerontechnologist (www.thegerontechnologist.com). 

Gerontologist and entrepreneur Keren Etkin founded The Gerontechnologist and wrote the forthcoming book The Age Tech Revolution. Ms. Etkin produces an annual Age Tech Market Map covering a wide swath of market segments, companies, and products concerning aging and technology that’s worth exploring.

Using Etkin’s map as a guide, this month’s column discusses some of the Age Tech products and services that emerged in 2021 and how they help older adults and their families.

The Age Tech Market

The Age Tech Market Map divides the Age Tech marketplace into numerous segments, including health and wellness, senior living, and many others. This column will focus on products in these specific areas:

• Caregiver Support
• Cognitive Care
• Fall Prevention
• Hearing Loss
• Rehabilitation
• Tech-Enabled Homecare
• Transportation
• Wellness Monitoring Systems 

Outpatient

Outpatient is an app where caregivers collaborate and share information and tasks while caring for an older loved one or client. It comes in two commercial versions, military and health systems for hospitals and clinics and a family version.

Key features:

• Outpatient is HIPAA-compliant.
• Create a caregiver team to share information and assign tasks.
• Record medical information and prescription dosages.
• Send group or direct messages amongst the care team members.
• Schedule an activity, event, or task and verify if completed.
• Use the Dashboard to monitor completed activities.

More info at getoutpatient.com.

WizeCare

WizeCare provides physical therapists an app for patient homecare that includes video, AI patient analysis, and patient reporting.

Key features:

• Therapists create personalized care plans.
• Video movement analysis highlights observable physical concerns for the patient.
• The app runs on standard mobile devices.
• Track patient progress using detailed reports.

More info at wizecare.com.

Nymbl 

Nymbl is a fall prevention app using a combination of physical movement and cognitive tasks to retrain an older adult’s balance reflex by focusing on the cognitive component of balance.

Key features:

• Nymbl adapts to the older adult user’s individual needs.
• Designed for ease of use – add Nymbl’s 10-minute sessions to a regular workout routine.
• The app provides feedback as users progress through the program.
• The app is free through many healthcare plans or municipal programs.

More info at nymblscience.com.

CareLinx

CareLinx is a homecare services platform that matches older adults directly with professional caregivers. Family members or older adults can find and interview local caregivers and choose the right person to help with home care. Professional caregivers can join the CareLinx platform and find jobs directly through the app.

Key features for families:

• Find, interview, and hire the right caregiver for your family member from a pool of background-checked candidates.
• Stay apprised of older adults’ well-being through the CareLinx app.
• Know when your caregiver enters and leaves your loved one’s home.
• Coordinate daily tasks, reminders, and appointments directly with the caregiver.
• Communicate directly with caregivers via text or video call from the CareLinx app.
• Available in specific US metro areas. Check availability.

Key features for caregivers:

• Specify your rates.
• $5 million liability insurance included.
• Healthcare, benefits, and flexible scheduling.
• Skill development resources.
• Use the CareLinx app for all documentation and communication with clients.

More info at www.carelinx.com.

MindMate

MindMate is a total wellness app intended to promote cognitive and physical well-being and forestall the effects of dementia, memory loss, and Alzheimer’s. MindMate is available for desktop on Windows or Mac, iPad, and iPhone.

Key features:

• Plan daily activities for mental and physical well-being.
• Use brain games, videos, and articles to support mental acuity and learn more about maintaining cognitive and physical health.
• Use daily workouts to keep physically active and healthy.
• Use suggested recipes for maintaining a brain-healthy diet.

More info at www.mindmate-app.com.

HopSkipDrive

HopSkipDrive is a transportation service similar to Uber and Lyft, focusing on older adults. Like those other ride-hailing services, people can download the HopSkipDrive app and hail a ride to a local destination. HopSkipDrive works with individual families and senior care communities.

Key features:

• CareDrivers are background checked and require five years of caregiving experience.
• Receive notifications in the mobile app for each stage of the ride.
• Live monitoring throughout the ride.
• Stringent COVID-19 ride safety protocols.

More info at https://www.hopskipdrive.com/families/transportation-for-seniors/.

AudioCardio

AudioCardio is a hearing loss therapy app that uses sound therapy to strengthen inner ear cells to help remediate tinnitus and hearing loss. AudioCardio states Stanford University and others clinically tested and approved their Threshold Sound Conditioning treatment.

Key features:

• Users assess their hearing with the app.
• AudioCardio identifies frequencies with diminished hearing sensitivity.
• Users perform exercises for the targeted frequencies.

More info at https://audiocardio.com/.

Future AgeTech

Ms. Etkin’s Age Tech Market Map covers a broad swath of market segments in Age Tech. This article is only a small sampling of dozens of products and services currently available and coming in 2022.

Future editions of the map will likely include products with integrated sensors and services in people’s homes or community settings that are already becoming a seamless part of our aging-in-place infrastructure.

We will see a time when we regard Age Tech the same as indoor plumbing, running water, internet, and utilities – fixtures and services in our homes that we take for granted.

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Note: any product mentioned in this column is not an endorsement. I do not receive compensation from any companies cited for including their product in this column.

An abridged version of this post appears in the December 2021 edition of Prime Time News.

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