Local government and business leaders think Boston could be a hub for the emerging “age-tech” industry, reports Robert Weisman for The Boston Globe. “We see this as a chance to make us a living laboratory and to bring the culture of innovation” to the problems of aging, says Joe Coughlin, director of the MIT AgeLab.
Prof. Paul Osterman speaks with WBUR On Point’s Jane Clayson about the home healthcare worker crisis in the United States. “We need to find ways to make home care workers more productive to save the healthcare system. The payers…would find it in their interest to improve the compensation and training of these folks,” said Osterman.
Joe Coughlin, director of the AgeLab, has a new book called The Longevity Economy, which examines how companies can better serve older consumers, writes Robert Powell for USA Today. “A new generation of older adults is beginning to demand far more out of later life than ever before: not just passive consumerism, but the active pursuit of meaning,” says Coughlin.
WBUR’s Rachel Zimmerman reports that Rendever, a startup launched by MIT graduates, has been awarded $40,000 by Pulse@MassChallenge, an accelerator aimed at supporting digital health startups. Rendever developed a virtual reality platform that aims to reduce social isolation and improve mental health, “through technology that allows seniors to relive and remember personal and family experiences and explore new environments.”
In an article for The New York Times, Prof. Jonathan Gruber writes that proposed cuts to Medicaid will impact a large number of Americans, as the program provides financial resources for elderly and disabled adults. “Nearly two-thirds of [Medicaid] spending is focused on older and disabled adults — primarily through spending on long-term care services such as nursing homes.”
Michelle Miller reports for CBS This Morning that Rendever, an MIT startup, is developing customized virtual reality experiences for senior citizens. Miller explains that the company is working “towards a future where the physical limitations many seniors face won’t prevent them from attending, say, a granddaughter’s wedding. They’ll be able to travel virtually.”
Joseph Coughlin, director of MIT’s AgeLab, speaks with Cardiff Garcia of the Financial Times about how to make aging easier. Coughlin says that we need “the imagination, the creativity and the will to invent a new vision to live longer and better.”
The BBC reports on a suit developed by the MIT AgeLab that simulates the aging process and the physical difficulties that come with age. The suit is designed to give young people a better idea of the challenges faced by the elderly.