White House Conference on Aging previews revolutionary technologies that could transform the lives of seniors

CAST calls for Government Commission to accelerate development of technologies that will help families facing crisis in Caring for loved ones

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 //PRNewswire/ -- Some of America's leading technology companies and universities assembled dozens of groundbreaking new technologies today at the White House Conference on Aging to give policy makers a glimpse of how technology could transform the lives of older adults and those who care for them.

Together, these technologies promise to enhance care and empower older adults with greater independence, all while limiting increases in the nation's long-term care costs.

"The way we care for our aging population today cannot scale to meet the looming age wave, and before long we'll face a full-blown national crisis," Eric Dishman, chairman of CAST and general manager & global director, Intel Health Research & Innovation Group said. "What we need is a radical intervention in how we care for seniors. Technology is at the heart of that intervention."

"Technology can help older adults maintain their health and dignity and allow them to live independently in their homes for longer. For many aging Americans, this is their number one wish," Larry Minnix, president and CEO of AAHSA said.

The exhibit is the largest such demonstration ever assembled. CAST, a program of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA), called on delegates from across the nation to support resolutions that encourage the development and application of technologies to meet the needs of older adults.

Universities demonstrating new ideas and technologies at the CAST exhibit included: Carnegie Mellon University/University of Pittsburgh, Georgia Institute of Technology, Oregon Health and Science University, University of Colorado, University of Rochester Center for Future Health and the University of Virginia Health System.

Exhibiting companies included: Accenture, Adherence Technologies, American HealthTech, Eaton, Front Porch/Dakim, Inc., GrandCare Systems, Health Hero Network, Health Watch/Tunstall, HealthMEDX, Inc., HomeFree Systems, Honeywell, IBM Corporation, Intel Corporation, In-Touch Health, It's Never 2 Late, MedicAlert Foundation, Medtronic, Meridian Health, Philips Medical Systems, PullUin Software, Tyco/ADT Security Services, Inc., Vigil Health Solutions and Viterion TeleHealthcare LLC. Aging services providers exhibiting are: Elite Care and Sears Methodist Retirement Systems.

The CAST Imagine technology pavilion provided visitors with a look inside the lab, a glimpse of what is possible tomorrow and what already is on the forefront today. Technologies shown included:

Pearl the Personal Assistant Robot, who can live with an older person

to help them keep track of activities like taking medicine, eating

meals and going to the bathroom.  She also can guide older people from

their rooms in a long-term care community to appointments.  She is

being exhibited by the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon

University.

 

  *  Embedded sensors that can assess an individual's health status at home.

     These include sensors in chairs and beds to measure vital signs and in

     the floor to determine if someone is walking with a healthy gait or has

     fallen.  The sensors will be exhibited by the University of Virginia

     Health System. Several other exhibitors will display wearable sensors

     that collect health information, telemedicine hookups to provide wound

     care diagnosis and treatment over the Internet.

 

  *  Chester the Talking Pill, an avatar technology embedded into a medicine

     cabinet to remind users of recent medicines they've taken and potential

     interactions. When the owner opens the medicine cabinet, a video of the

     pill pops up on a computer screen. Chester is being exhibited by the

     Center for Future Health of the University of Rochester.

 

  *  A memory-assisting caller ID system for people with Alzheimer's disease

     that shows the user a picture of the caller and offers details of the

     last conversation to jog the memory of a person with dementia. This

     technology is being exhibited by Intel Corporation.  Other technologies

     being exhibited integrate online gaming to help slow memory loss and

     virtual communities to provide social interaction that diminish

     isolation and loneliness.

 

"Technology already has transformed our lives -- from email to MP3s and from online shopping to cell phones. Now, it's time for technology to transform the experience of aging," said Russell Bodoff, executive director of the Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST), which organized the exhibit at the Marriott Wardman Park, the site of the once-a-decade conference.

CAST also premiered the new short film, "Imagine -- The Future of Aging" at the pavilion. With an introduction from actor Jeff Bridges, the film took viewers on a journey through the experience of one family to see what the future of aging could look like if it includes the kind of developing technologies that were shown at the conference.

Within six years, the first of 76 million baby boomers will turn 65. A few years after that, older adults will make up the single biggest demographic group in the country and create an economic and social crisis as America struggles to care for its aging population.

CAST is urging the private sector, universities, government and aging- services providers to work together to advance the development and application of cost-effective technologies. CAST also is calling on Congress to encourage federal agencies to apply technological solutions developed for military and health care to improve the care and quality of life for older Americans. Bodoff said many organizations already are rising to the challenge. In the two years since CAST was launched, "more than 400 companies, universities and aging-services providers have come to us to ask to participate. They want to know what they can do. How can they use their technological know-how to help mom, dad and grandma?"

About CAST

The Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST) is leading the national charge to develop and deploy technologies that can improve the aging experience in America. CAST has four focus areas: 1) driving a national vision of how technologies can improve the quality of life for seniors while reducing healthcare costs; 2) accelerating technology R&D pilots with seniors to prove out this vision, 3) advocating to remove barriers to the rapid commercialization of proven solutions; and 4) promoting national dialogue about standards to insure interoperability and widespread access to aging services technologies. Established in 2003, CAST (http://www.agingtech.org/) has become a national coalition of more than 400 technology companies, aging services organizations, research universities, and government representatives working together under the auspices of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (http://www.aahsa.org/). The members of AAHSA serve 2 million people every day through mission-driven, not-for-profit organizations.