Most of our research is designed to help older adults and their families make decisions and choices about topics that impact quality of life as we grow older — choices like which products and services can help older adults live independently for longer, and delay the time at which growing older gets in the way of living life to the full.
In addition, some of our work is designed to help innovators develop products and services that older adults like us will actually want and find useful.
Recent Analysis and Exploration
Retirement Living Options
When it comes to retirement living options, the question of whether to stay at home or to move often looms large. Here are the things to consider so you make the right decision.
Retirement Living: Comparison Matrix & Talk
Retirement Living expert John Milford has created this talk and comparison matrix of pros and cons of different retirement living alternatives, using San Francisco Bay Area examples to illustrate the comparison process. Details include entry fee sizes, ongoing financial obligations, application requirements, and which entities oversee the different housing types.
Caring for & Dealing with Elderly Parents: The Books
In a previous article I did a little research to find the 10 “best selling” books on the topic of Aging Parents (on Amazon). I have now waded through them all, and in this article I summarize my impressions of the different books, in the hope that you can leverage my work so you need only focus on the ones that seem most useful for you.
Joe Maxwell’s Universal Design Kitchen
This article describes a piece of universal design (a kitchen) from 83 yr old designer Joe Maxwell. When you read about Joe’s kitchen design below from the 1950’s you can’t help wondering why we don’t see more Universal Design in mainstream products.
The Best Fall Prevention Program
Concerned about Falls? This article is designed to help you decide which (if any) is the best Fall Prevention Program for you. And to help you choose between the Fall Prevention programs available in your town, state and country.
Fall Prevention Exercises for Seniors
We look at different options for the fall prevention exercises component of a fall prevention program, and how to decide which exercises for seniors program would work best to reduce your fall risk, in this second part of our work on choosing the right fall prevention program.
Best Lighted Cane
Our Explorer circles of older adults wanted a walking cane with a light that would help make getting out at night safer. The Explorers found some promising lighted canes online, purchased a few that looked especially good, tried them out, and decided on one which was “the best”.
Toenail Clippers for Elderly People
Our circles of older adults have been exploring toenail clippers for elderly people. They explain that older adults often have nails that are hard to cut or hard to reach. The explorers are especially interested in toenail clippers for thick toenails, and toenail clippers that will work when a person has arthritis, and thus can not exert a strong grip on the nail clipper.
Ideas for Apps for Seniors
At a conference organized by San Francisco’s Institute on Aging, I ran an interactive “exploration”, in which we asked attendees to vote on “Senior Apps they Like“, or to submit ideas they have for “There should be an App for that“. We got quite a few interesting ideas, and this article reports the results of the session.
Best Rollator (Walker): Older Adults Explore
When acquiring a Rollator or Walker, which features matter for a given individual? And how does one decide which is the best walker or rollator to get for yourself, or a parent or spouse? The Longevity Explorer community explored questions like these.
Fall proofing ME: What Can I Do?
The media is awash with stories about older adults falling and hurting themselves, and these reports usually mention that one in three of those over 65 will fall each year. This article is about what you can do to make falls less likely.
Am I at Risk for Falls?
How do I determine my personal degree of “risk for falls”? Should I worry about falls at all? Do I need to use a cane or a walker? How would I know? We all face these questions as we age.
Improving Cinema Experience for the Vision Impaired
Lighted Magnifier: Read menus in dim light
Reading under poor lighting conditions is a common problem, not only for reading menus, but also for reading in bed, or seeing small type in a poorly lit space. What is needed is some type of lighted magnifier. There are four categories of solutions for this common problem. The pro’s and con’s of each solution are detailed below, as well as in the individual product listings we link to.
The Paradox of Good UX Design for Seniors
Seniors report avoiding, or using in as stealth a manner as possible, technologies that would improve the quality of their lives — even enhance their safety — because they are associated with or specifically designed for the elderly. The paradox, then, for good UX design that addresses seniors’ needs is to do so without explicitly seeming to target the “old.”
Inventor Road Trip
Earlier this month we invited the inventor of a new type of walker to come along to one of the Longevity Collective circle meetings and show the older adults members of our circle the prototype of her invention and get their feedback. It was pretty interesting. This article is about the experience.
Falls: Questions from the Collective
We held an Unconference at one of our Aging in Place Technologies Meetups to think about the following topic. What are the questions to which “you” would like answers with respect to making falls less of a concern?
Working at 90 and designing for age
Best Books on Aging Parents
Over the last 18 months I have talked with literally hundreds of people who have realized they now have an extra “job” that they were not expecting: engaging one way or another in looking out for an aging parent. Many of them wanted a “guide” to Caring for Aging Parents, and asked for recommendations. Sure enough, there are a number of books on aging parents on Amazon. I decided I wanted to find the most popular, and then read them and see whether I could identify a handful of them to recommend next time someone asks for a Guide to Aging Parents. This article is the first installment in my journey and focuses on which are the top selling books in this category (presumably the ones others have found most relevant).
A Conversation You Haven’t Had with Your Doctor…But Should
Drug company advertisements often end with the phrase “Ask your Doctor about…” followed by the newest drug being promoted. While surely they mean to ask if the new drug is right for you to start taking, I suggest a different question to ask your Doctor: “Of all the drugs prescribed for me, which one is most important for me to take correctly?”