Andrew Williams

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• What CES 2017 Missed: Simplifying The Challenges Of Eldercare in Marketing: Health on 01/13/2017
  

  CES 2017 delivered on promises for excitement in categories like automotive, home electronics, and virtual reality but, looking out over the showroom floor, there was one category that was underrepresented by the big electronic trends.

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• What CES 2017 Missed: Simplifying The Challenges Of Eldercare by Andrew Williams (Marketing: Health on 01/13/2017)
  

  Hi Paula, thank you for the comment. I generally agree with you that technology won't solve all of our problems, especially with a condition as complicated as dementia. I think technology can do two things well: (1) allow seniors better access to the world around them, and (2) improve the quality of life for caregivers assisting with senior care. For 1, asking seniors to learn a new user interface (e.g., a new app menu or navigation structure) is silly. The barrier to entry is too high, no matter how great the purported value might be. Voice driven commands lower that barrier and allow seniors to engage with the technology in a natural way. Instead of hunting around for a button seniors can just say things like "What's the weather like?", "Call Jenny.", "Get me an Uber.". This isn't new technology, but it's a simplified way for seniors to take advantage of technologies which might have seemed intimidating. Great call is a fantastic company to watch in this space: www.greatcall.com For 2, there are elements of senior care which are common and routine. Making sure a loved one took their meds is a good example. It seems reasonable to think that technology could solve a small problem like med reminders and verification. If that's true, then it eliminates the need for a human to do that task. With enough small talks like that, we can start to shift the role of caregivers within eldercare. Caregivers can get back to spending quality time with their loved ones, rather than focusing on the mechanics of care.

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