Report finds growing interest in tech for ageing well at home

Older people in the US are increasingly interested in using technology to age well and independently in their current homes and communities, A new report has revealed.

The report found that 80 per cent of older Americans currently own at least one type of tech that enables ageing at home, and over half express a high likelihood of buying and adapting more of these emerging technologies.

“From smart wearable health monitors to hearing aids to digital security, there’s a huge interest among older Americans who want to integrate these technologies into their plans to age in their homes and communities,” said Patty David, AARP vice president of consumer insights at AARP, which conducted the report in conjunction with the Consumer Technology Association (CTA).

“The market is large and will grow as more and more Americans age into the 50-plus bracket. This is projected to be a US$120bn market by 2030.”

Seven out of ten adults age 50-plus (70 per cent) said they feel very comfortable using tech to help them age in their homes and communities. A significant number of older adults are considering buying additional tech to help them in their ageing journey.

The top potential tech products for older Americans are smart health devices, with more than half of older adults considering connected medical alert devices, digital hearing aids, and blood pressure and glucose monitors as AgeTech.

The report showed that price and reliability are the top barriers to purchase for many AgeTech products, with 60 per cent of participants saying that some form of cost was a barrier to purchase, and 41 per cent saying that their concerns about reliability are a barrier to purchase.

Further, 64 per cent of adults over 50 do not feel technology today is designed with their age in mind.

“This report confirms that seniors are ready to adopt technology that help them age-in-place,” said René Quashie, vice president of digital health at CTA.

“Our focus at CTA is making sure that developers make tools easy to use through thoughtful innovation, using our consumer research and industry standards.”

The new research provides insight into the priorities of older Americans when it comes to using and adopting technology to help them age. For some, there are large gaps in the adoption of technology and the number of people who are interested.

“There are some hesitancies in adoption, including price, ease of use, and data security,” David said.

“AARP and CTA are interested in overcoming some of these challenges to enable older Americans everywhere to live the way they want.”