elderly
Combating Loneliness is Everyone’s Business
Loneliness, by its very definition is an individual experience. It’s also having a significant impact on society, and a challenge that will take an entire “new village” to solve. According to research from Campaign to End Loneliness, 9 in 10 people believe loneliness in older age is more likely now than ever. However, 67 percent of […]
Rethinking How Technology Can Improve the Quality of Life of our Aging Population
by Nicola Palmarini and Sheila Zinck According to the United Nations, more than one out of five people will be age 60 or older by 2050. If the explosion of mobile connectivity was the biggest technology shift of the early 21st century, the worldwide aging population is the biggest demographic shift – one with the […]
Girls Who Code Tackle Aging and Isolation
High school students from Girls Who Code, a national non-profit organization dedicated to closing the gender gap in technology, are taking on the challenge of helping seniors learn technology to reduce their feelings of isolation and loneliness. The team, consisting of Heewon Kim, Oumou Camara, Paula Sante, and Elizabeth Paz (see photo), created Elders Connect, […]
Aging and the Internet of Caring Things
We’re getting old and living longer. Most Americans, in fact, want to live to be 100. In many countries, there are more elderly people than children for the first time in history. This is creating a societal crisis as many countries face the challenge of supporting an aging population with increasing costs of healthcare and […]
Mobilizing the Human Experience
Mobile is the lifeline to the world we live in today. We wake up in the morning and addictively check our devices. Before falling asleep, we cuddle up next to them. When experiencing some uncomfortable moment or loneliness during the day, we find solace in our mobile surrogate. By 2020, 70 percent of the world […]
Age and Ability in the Cognitive Era
Our parents and grandparents represent one of the most complex societal and economic challenges facing nations as they struggle with increasing costs of healthcare and decreasing numbers of caregivers. People aged 60 and older currently make up approximately 12 percent of the global population, and by 2050, that number will rise to almost 22 percent, […]
Doing What is Right, Regardless of Age or Ability
As we celebrate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, I want to reflect on how far we’ve come in providing equal access to the information that makes everyone’s daily routines more manageable. The task of making technology, applications, or the workplace accessible is ever-challenging. However, IBM has, with its long-standing belief that accessibility is not just […]