The American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA) may be a national nonprofit organization that represents 5,000 not-for-profit nursing homes, retirement communities, assisted living residences and senior housing communities, but it's President and CEO said he still knows a thing or two about Twitter. AAHSA's Larry Minnix told attendees at the Healthcare Unbound event here in Seattle, Washington that anyone who doesn't believe that "small technologies" don't have the power to change things needs to pay attention to what Twitter has done to provide a media outlet for coverage of the Iran elections and related protests.
Transformation comes from small things, Minnix said.
Those could include technologies that help seniors live more independently, while maintaining their mobility thanks to wireless sensors and remote monitors around the house, like the ones the Continua Health Alliance recently selected ZigBee technology to support.
Small things like wireless sensors could transform the lives of seniors and their caretakers alike.
Minnix noted that about 70 percent of people in the US "will face the opportunity of becoming a long-term caregiver for a loved one," which costs about $5,500 a year to take care of an elderly person at home. If you are a remote long-term caregiver it typically costs closer to $9,000. Currently, 34 million people in the US provide care to someone who is over the age of 50, but that number is expected to balloon soon as Baby Boomers age.
