Tech-savvy boomers want more from retirement living

As tech-savvy baby boomers look to age in place, technology represents both an opportunity and a threat to the retirement living industry, says tech-expert David Waldie, a speaker at the National Retirement Living Summit in November.

“The next generation of retirement living residents are the baby boomers. These people are wealthier, better educated and more demanding than the prior generation – and they are tech-savvy,” says Waldie, the managing director of Frontier Networks, a telecommunications company focused on the impact of technologies on independent living seniors.

Over the next decade, retirement villages will move from a customer base that finds technology “generally frustrating and sometimes irrelevant”, to one using broadband on a daily basis. “This will be a phenomenal change,” Waldie says.

The rise in demand for self-care and online care is also reshaping the future of retirement living.

“Recent research tells us that two thirds of baby boomers want to use self-care technology to independently manage their health, and more than half are prepared to wear a health-monitoring device to track vital signs and to trust online communities for second opinions. Unlike their parents, they don’t put all their faith in doctors. They are inclined to look at self-care and online care because they want to proactively manage their own health.”

Baby boomers are big users of health forums and blogs, Waldie says, and many are embracing the ‘quantified self’ movement, incorporating everything from Fitbits to iWatches into their daily lives.

“This generation won’t wear personal emergency response pendants. Instead, that service will be integrated into the rest of their online care.”

Waldie points to the National Health Service in the UK as an example, which is looking at smart phones and wearables capable of sensing, analysing and displaying vital signs and alerting clinicians to deteriorations wherever the patient may be.

Government policies are also driving the ‘ageing in place’ agenda. The $2 billion Commonwealth Home Support Program commenced from 1 July 2015, and further significant reforms are in the pipeline.

Finally, “every technology company with its lights on” is developing products for seniors.  “The big ones and the little ones are all investing in technology that responds to the needs of an ageing population,” Waldie explains. 

Technology will also help people stay connected with the community. “Isolation kills. We know the healthiest and most socially connected seniors are also the most avid users of broadband and social media.”

Waldie sees retirement living villages evolving into wider ‘neighbourhoods’ in which “technology will enable residents inside and outside the village to look out for each other.  “For example, I would expect to see the implementation of readily available technologies that help adult children quietly monitor their independent living parents. They’ll be able to check in each morning to see that the kettle’s been switched on, the fridge door opened and that normal patterns are being followed – and they’ll be able to do it in an unobtrusive way.”

“The big question is whether these technologies will provide opportunities for retirement living to do their job better. Or are they a threat?  “As one of the great thinkers in this area, Jo Coughlin from the MIT Ageing Labs, says: ‘the answer is both’.”

David Waldie will be sharing his insights at the National Retirement Living Summit 2015 in Brisbane on 24 November. Reserve your ticket today.