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  • Hi, I'm Dr. Tanja Popovich and this is Beyond the Data.

  • Welcome. Today we're talking about aging and technology

  • and how technology can help adults age more safely

  • and more independently.With us here today is Dr. Lynda Anderson

  • who is the director of the CDC's healthy aging program.

  • Welcome, Lynda.

  • Thank you.

  • So, we have just had an interesting session about aging

  • and technology but I would like to take a step back and ask you,

  • why is having a lot of older adults a public health problem?

  • Well first let me describe sort of the number of older adults

  • that we're really going to be experiencing and many

  • of you have thought about sort of thinking

  • about the baby boom generation.

  • And in January of 2011 when the Baby Boomers started turning 65

  • we now know that there will be between nine

  • and ten thousand people turning 65 everyday.

  • And just that sheer number has huge implications for thinking

  • about public health in terms of service delivery and terms

  • of chronic disease management.

  • So we have talked about the technology,

  • can you tell us a little bit, again,

  • from the public health perspective what are the

  • challenges and what are the opportunities that we who work

  • in the public health arena have if we want to use some

  • of the new technologies and upcoming technologies

  • that we will have at our disposition?

  • So, in thinking from a public health we can think

  • about how do we get the technologies we have today

  • reaching out to older adults to really include them.

  • We have often been in our healthy aging program working

  • with aging services network

  • which really touches the lives of older adults.

  • So bringing in technology, public health,

  • and aging services, we can really make a difference

  • to really have older adults begin

  • to use technologies more effectively.

  • Do we know how receptive older adults are

  • to use of new technologies?

  • Well, we know from a recent study that about 53%

  • of older adults are using online types of technologies

  • back in 2010 and that's increasing all the time.

  • But that's an area that we really do need to do more work

  • about is to get older adults to be comfortable with technology.

  • So this is communication technologies.

  • What about other technologies to make their lives easier at home

  • and in the communities?

  • And so we do know that older adults are certainly willing

  • to adapt with technologies and to use them but we really have

  • to get over some the stigma of thinking about technologies

  • and perhaps even resistance to certain kinds

  • of home technologies,

  • an important area for public health.

  • We have heard about the "Yuck" factor. What is that?

  • It really means that sometimes when we have technologies

  • that have to be put in place to adapt for someone rather

  • than something that's designed more for people

  • to live with every day.

  • They might find them not as appealing as sort

  • of their regular home environment.

  • So we don't want technology to be self-centric in a way

  • that it looks like it's specifically designed

  • for one person. We want it to be appealing so that more

  • than one person can use it.

  • That it be flexible in a way for more than a grandparent

  • and a child that more than one person

  • in the family can be living in the same space

  • and be using assistive technologies.

  • Right, in fact you raise a really good point

  • about we want technologies that can help someone

  • who is 80 years old as well as help someone

  • who is eight years old and then families

  • to live more comfortably as well.

  • So, what would be one or two key messages that you would send

  • to the growing number of older adults

  • that we now have in our country?

  • What are we from the public health perspective doing

  • and what would you like them to know?

  • Well I think one thing is sort of the reaching

  • out to older adults and I would really recommend that they begin

  • to engage in using technology.

  • And we had mentioned sort of the personal technologies but also

  • to explore, let their opinions be heard about technologies,

  • to get involved and to learn more about technologies.

  • I think we can also, you know, learn and benefit

  • from what older adults can bring

  • to public health as partnerships.

  • So, what we need to do is we need to work

  • with the older adults as we develop these new technologies

  • and engage them as we develop them rather

  • than do it to them, in a way.

  • Yes, we want older adults

  • to be more engaged in the conversation.

  • Thank you so very much Linda!

  • This was Beyond the Data. Thank you very much

  • for being with us and see you next time.

Hi, I'm Dr. Tanja Popovich and this is Beyond the Data.

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