2 weeks Ago By Roberto Kern, Forbes Councils Member
Roberto Kern is a healthtech entrepreneur and co-founder of Sailor Health, a behavioral health platform dedicated to serving older adults. For millions of people, growing old means doing it alone. One in three older adults reports feeling isolated, with millions experiencing chronic loneliness.
What many don't realize is that this isn't just about feeling sad; loneliness carries risks akin to smoking 15 cigarettes daily . Secular trends such as a shift towards aging at home further exacerbate the risk of social isolation. Despite these grim statistics, there's reason for optimism—in great part driven by advancements in technologies seeking to tackle loneliness.
In this article, I share secular trends on technological adoption from older adults for aspiring AgeTech entrepreneurs. Despite being traditionally viewed as technology-resistant, the older adult population has increasingly embraced digital tools . This trend has only been exacerbated since the Covid-19 pandemic.
This unexpected catalyst forced older adults to adopt technologies that enabled connection and access to essential services during isolation. Innovation is fueling a new generation of solutions that meet older adults where they are—in their homes, on their terms and with their unique needs in mind. Tech-enabled services like Papa match older adults with vetted companions for visits, errands or conversation.
These "grandkids on demand" foster intergenerational relationships that benefit both parties. Meanwhile, online communities like Stitch connect adults over 50 based on shared interests, helping to reduce loneliness rates for new users who initially identified as isolated. The data confirms what innovators have long suspected—digital healthcare delivery works remarkably well for older adults.
This is evident in the high satisfaction rates among older adults who use telehealth services, often citing convenience and reduced need for travel as key benefits. Approximately 97% of older adults had a telehealth appointment in 2023. Additionally, telehealth not only enhances access to care but also supports proactive management of chronic conditions and improves transitions between different care settings, further contributing to its effectiveness for this demographic.
At Sailor Health, I've witnessed firsthand how technology can transform isolation into connection. For entrepreneurs looking to make an impact in this space, five principles stand out as essential: 1. Lead with empathy and build with data.
Combine immersion in older adults' lived experiences with a data-driven approach. Understand which products of your business see adoption and the behaviors you can identify from your data. 2.
Prioritize trust. Older adults value reliability over novelty. Build trust through consistent, dependable experiences that deliver on promises without disruptive changes.
3. Design for accessibility. Some of our clients at Sailor Health don’t have smartphones and computers, so we’ve designed a system for them to receive therapy over landline.
You’ll want to design your platform for technological unfamiliarity and other limitations. 4. Focus on human quality.
The "human factor" of those engaging with older adults is as critical as the technology itself. You won’t be able to automate everything, and that’s alright. Bringing to life a delightful experience through empathy and genuine interest will be key to retaining your customers.
5. Measure meaningful outcomes. Develop frameworks that capture both business performance and genuine improvement in older adults' well-being.
Looking ahead, we can expect "social health" to become a standard component of geriatric care. Technology companies continue refining their offerings to be more user-friendly and tailored to older adults' needs and interests. The human need for connection doesn't fade with age.
Thankfully, technology is finally stepping up to meet that need in ways that keep older adults healthier, both mentally and physically. That is a future worth embracing, for all of us. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives.
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