Technology holds huge potential to allow older adults to maintain their independence for longer and to assist with care, but companies developing assisted living technologies have struggled to get their products to market.
A greater sense of urgency is needed in developing a market for technology aimed at helping older adults, according to Martijn Vastenburg, founder of ConnectedCare, a spin-out from Delft University of Technology.
It is disappointing to see how few technologies actually make it, Vastenburg told the ‘European Summit on Innovation for Active and Healthy Ageing’ this week. “The market is not ready,” he said. “The only way to change this is to instil a sense of urgency.”
Vastenburg has looked at ways to better connect older adults with their children, neighbours and carers, while maintaining an unobtrusive, high-tech eye.
The ConnectedCare platform uses motion sensors to learn about daily movements and sends alerts to these collaborative care networks. These network members can then respond to the user’s alerts, reminders and needs, interact with other people in the circle and organise activities.
New, relatively inexpensive tech like this can empower the elderly, maintained Vastenburg. But while the EU is pushing a lot of research in this field – Vastenburg himself is involved in five EU-funded “ambient assisted living” projects – his overall impression is that the market is “stuck”.
Resistance, lack of data
With the number of over 65s in the EU rising fast and life expectancy ever greater, the demand for care appliances should be there. However, companies are struggling to find customers for their wares.
Resistance to change is a problem. Persuading older adults to wear monitoring devices, like one of the wristbands developed by Vastenburg’s team, is a familiar dilemma.
New gadgets can cause anxiety. “Seniors say they’d rather use the phone then use an online tool,” he notes. And they are not the only hesitant ones. “Care assistants say they don’t have time to adapt to a new innovation.”In Vastenburg’s experience, the new stock of digital care devices has been a hard sell. Carers want to hear some evidence: will it be worth their while?
There is not enough data to say either way, said Vastenburg. “We don’t have that evidence, nor do other electronics manufacturers – our competitors. So we’re stuck,” he said. This means investors are reluctant to throw in money too, he said.
Before starting ConnectedCare, Vastenburg worked as assistant professor in industrial design engineering at Delft University. He turned his experience there into a business idea.
As well as participating in EU-funded projects, his company is involved in several Dutch pilots.
To-do list for lawmakers
Charities and organisations including Nesta, UnLtd and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation are embracing innovation and taking punts on ideas in this field. But governments should wade in more, said Vastenburg.
“If we really want innovation, we need to create proper incentives. Patients and informal caregivers need to be financially rewarded for taking over tasks from professionals,” he said.
Working towards the same rules and standards across Europe should be a priority. “When I look at our business, quite a few products that succeed in the Netherlands can’t take the next step into the European and global market. Scalability is hard,” he said.
Governments should push new trials too, he said. These will help evaluate how large a technology leap an older adult will be willing to take.
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