In the coming decades, the graying of America will pose many challenges to older adults. This is particularly true for those who want to age in place, but who will need support to do so. Where does that assistance come from?
Right now, there’s a major supply and demand imbalance for caregivers. This caregiver deficit will only continue to grow. Family-provided care isn’t a perfect solution either. Many older adults are childfree or simply don’t have close family who can support them. What’s to be done?
Silver tech is one of the fastest-growing areas of the tech world. This refers to technology that’s designed to support the needs of aging adults. It’s popping up in many places including hospitals and assisted-living facilities, but here we’ll look at the proliferation of silver tech in the senior’s own home.
Caregiving Tech
It’s popular wisdom that seniors are not very tech literate; that they find modern software and devices confusing, hard to operate and more trouble than they’re worth. But increasingly, seniors are bucking this stereotype.
Many seniors are falling in love with the silver tech that offers solutions for their needs. Technology under development or available now increasingly offers convenient support for aging people. These offerings are largely intuitive to use and integrate smoothly with the home. Here are some of them.
Medication Dispensers. A digital pill dispenser is the classic example here. However, devices like insulin pumps also fall under this category. They can be programmed to keep up with even complex medication schedules. This takes mental load off of the senior and their caregivers.
