By Laura Nuhaan, CEO and co founder
Interesting article about telehealth shows that digitial divide between seniors and younger generations is a barrier in telehealth. Read more here. From this article: Blacker (AT&T) said lack of access to technology is a problem, especially among the elderly. “The ‘digital divide’ is a big problem because senior… citizens are the
group that is least likely to use digital technology,” West said.
It’s FamiliLink’s mission to overcome the digital divide!
By Inger Rarick, Co-Founder FamiliLink
A new study this month posted by the AMA (American Medical Association) shows that older adults who continue or begin to do ANY amount of exercise appear to live longer and have a lower risk of disability. The study spanned over 15 years and included almost 2000 participants. Some findings included: “Physical activity may delay the spiral of decline that begins with inability to perform daily activities and continues through illness and death by improving cardiovascular fitness, slowing loss of muscle mass, reducing fat, improving immunity and suppressing inflammation.” Click here to see the study.
What I find most significant is that institutions are FINALLY investing money and resources into doing studies on older adults. Almost all of the studies in the past conducted on the benefits and/or harms of exercise have focused on people under the age of 65. This is the first significant studies about how exercise can impact the well-being of older adults.
Certainly this is a step in the right direction. As our population ages (by 2020 there will be 54M older adults…compared to today’s 35M older adults) it is clear that resources must be spent TODAY on learning more about our aging population and what we can do to improve health and well being as we age. The next step is to start investing in technologies and services that will truly impact older adults. At FamiliLink, we know that staying physically active, socially connected, and cognitively stimulated are key success factors to happy aging. With FamiliLink, it is easy to have your older loved one “digitally connected” so you can provide support using the computer and internet. Imagine what you can do once your loved one is “connected”… share digital content (photos and videos), help them with reminders for medications, exercise schedules, important appointments, play brain games together with them and so much more.
I hope institutions continue to do age-specific studies such as the one above, then perhaps investors and corporations will begin to focus on this generation.
By Laura Nuhaan, CEO and co-founder FamiliLink
This week our company competed as a Finalist in the 2009 Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit & Business Plan Competition. FamiliLink was a Finalist in the Elevator Pitch category. The Summit features a new Forum for entrepreneurs and businesses, who are introducing products and services of benefit to the 45+ baby boomer market, to meet the industry’s leading Venture Capitalists, experts and analysts and compete for cash prizes.
The Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit consistently gathers thought leaders from around the world to discuss trends and issues in the baby boomer market space. Many of the Summit’s speakers touched upon two key points –the need for technology geared towards the older adult and tools to assist with care giving that benefits all involved. That is exactly what we offer with FamiliLink.
Laurie Orlov, leading industry analyst, “Aging in Place Technology Watch”, referred to FamiliLink in her blog (http://www.ageinplacetech.com/) stating that FamiliLink among others is in the fairly new business of making computers easier for seniors to use and lend themselves to being used with touch screens like the HP TouchSmart and now the Asus Eee Top all-in-one PCs, both of which can be manipulated with a finger or a stylus — instead of a mouse and keyboard. In addition, Jody Holtzman, Director of Knowledge Management at AARP, highlighted an AARP study that outlined key factors to “Successful Aging”, one of them being as “ability to stay connected to friends and family.”
FamiliLink received a great deal of positive feedback from Summit attendees – “great user interface”, “this would be so simple for my mom who gets so frustrated when using the computer” and “dad has Parkinson’s disease and FamiliLink would really make it easy for him” and “I just love the look and feel.”
Watch our pitch here:
The pitch slides you can see here:
We are looking forward to our launch next week!
By Laura Nuhaan, CEO and co-founder FamiliLink
In the US still 26 Million of seniors over 65 years old do not have a computer. This implies that there is still a lot to do to make computers and internet more accessible for this group. Check this presentation regarding a workshop teaching internet basics to seniors.
We think that beginning computer users will like FamiliLink as it provides them with an easy way to start connecting and enjoying the benefits of feeling connect with their families and loved ones. As a matter of fact, some senior centers are starting to offer FamiliLink to their seniors as part of their computer course.
Two weeks ago we spoke with Laurie Orlov an analyst from Aging in Place, to hear her view on the aging market and the market landscape and share experiences. She just published a report on aging and technology market 2009 Technology Market Overview Report which is available online after you register for free at http://www.ageinplacetech.com/user/register. She predicts that not only the market for technology to assist aging adults will grow from $2 billion today to more than $20 billion by 2020 but also that the number of online seniors (also called the Silver Tsunami) will increase from 13.7 Million to 25.9 Million by 2013.
Orlov categorizes the need for technology, into 4 main categories.
These are:
· Safety and security
· Health and wellness
· Communication and engagement
· Learning and contribution
Before starting FamiliLink we did a lot of research on what concerns baby boomers the most about their aging parents. From the research and our own experience four main problem areas emerged. Baby boomers worry about what kind of support they need to give to their aging parent, if they are safe, do they take their medications and are they socially engaged. There is clearly a strong overlap with the Orlov’s categories. FamiliLink helps family members to include their older parent in their digital lives and empowers caring family members to assist them with medication reminders and other health and wellness support. FamiliLink focuses now on the communication and engagement part, after the social hook is established and older adults are using the site regularly for the social connection (messages, photos, videos), then the health and wellness care features will be introduced.
If we look at what Orlov says on communication and engagement, it is the following: “For baby boomers and younger, life is unthinkable without e-mail, chat, web-surfing, Facebook, Smartphones, video games, and texting. Yet the majority of seniors over the age of 65 are for the most part unaware of these 24×7 ways to be in touch and in the know. And further, many older people are intimidated by tech like PCs and complex cell phones. But they need to stay in touch. Simplified tech — like Microsoft’s Guide for Aging Computer Users or easy-to-use cell phones from Jitterbug or Clarity– can make these experiences feasible and gratifying.”
This is exactly why we have spent a great deal of time and resources (and will continue to do so) on usability studies with seniors to ensure we have the most simple and friendly interface. On top of that FamiliLink makes it easy for a senior to be included in the digital loop by bringing all different content from the people they care about all together at one central, easy to use place.
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