Living Longer and Living Better: Technology and Wellbeing ... · GenX Millennials Post-Millennials...

Living Longer and Living Better: Technology and Wellbeing for an Aging Population

Lisa D’Ambrosio, Ph.D.Research Scientist

AuDacity 2019Washington, D.C.15 November 2019

MIT AgeLab | agelab.mit.eduL i f e T o m o r r o w

agelab.mit.edu © 2019 MIT AgeLab

New Demographics and New Demands

2


Aging Is a Global Success Story

3

Source: United Nations 2017.

2017 2050(proj) Growth

World 962.3 2080.5 116.20%

Europe 183 247.2 35.10%

NorthAmerica 78.4 122.8 56.70%

In millions

Number of People Ages 60+Population Proportion Age 60+


When It Comes to Aging, Success Is Disruptive

4


Americans Are Living Longer

5

Life Expectancy by Generation in the US, at Birth and at Age 65

Born 1900 Older Boomers

Younger Boomers GenX Millennials Post-

Millennials

At birth 47.3 68.2 69.7 70.8 74.9 76.8

At age 65 77.0 78.9 79.3 80.2 81.9 82.6

Women 49.0 72.0 73.1 74.7 78.3 79.3

Men 47.0 67.0 66.6 67.1 71.4 74.1

Generational breaks by birth year: Older Boomers 1946-1955; Younger Boomers 1956-1964; GenX 1965-1980; Millennials 1981-1996; Post-Millennials 1997+Data sources: CDC https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/hus/contents2017.htm#015 and OECD (by gender) https://data.oecd.org/healthstat/life-expectancy-at-birth.htm#indicator-chart, for birth years 1950, 1960, 1970, 1988, 2000, and CDC for 1900 birth life expectancy; https://www.seniorliving.org/history/1900-2000-changes-life-expectancy-united-states/ for birth year life expectancy at age 65

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/hus/contents2017.htm

https://data.oecd.org/healthstat/life-expectancy-at-birth.htm

https://www.seniorliving.org/history/1900-2000-changes-life-expectancy-united-states/


A Quiz

6

October 4, 2019


Category:A Salute to 8000

The $600 Clue:The M.I.T. AgeLab estimates that this period of your life will last

about 8,000 days – don’t run out of savings

A Clue

7


WHATIS

THE NEW OLD AGE?

An Answer

8


›A long time – nearly 22 years

›New opportunities to define and to redefine how we want to live as we age

›People may not be following the same paths – or have the same expectations – around aging and lifestyles as previous generations did

8,000 Days Means….

9


Not Just Living Longer, But Living Better

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Hearing and Successful Aging

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Changes in Vision and Hearing

agelab.mit.edu

0 2 4 6 8

No noticeablechanges

Within the past5 years

5 - 10 yearsago

10 - 20 yearsago

20+ years ago

Number of participants

Hearing

Vision


› Vision› No limitations in shopping, household

chores, cooking, attending medical appointments, participating in community activities, or paying bills

› Some impact on ability to live independently

› Hearing› Significant impacts on social

engagement: almost half said hearing loss limited their ability to maintain social relationships with friends and family

Impacts of Changes in Hearing and Vision Differ

13


› 51% of Americans over the age of 71 live alone

› 17% of Americans over the age of 65 are isolated1

› $1608 = Average annual increased health care costs of isolated individuals

› Social Isolation increases risk of cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline and premature death as much as obesity and other clinical risk factors like smoking

Hearing, Aging and Social Isolation

14

“At many social

functions, I feel as if I am not there at

all.”

“If I am at a party, and I can’t hear a damn thing, I just

withdraw myself . . . I don’t even try to

listen to what anyone is saying, and it’s not a good social thing.”


› Use of multiple different kinds of solutions› Hearing aids› Hearables – e.g., Bose Hearphones, portable amplifiers› Closed captioning› Visual or vibrating alarms› “Hacking” the home environment

› No solutions were perfect› Hearing aids expensive› Hearing aids didn’t always work well or as expected:

“Hearing aids make things louder, they don’t make things clearer, and by clearer I mean speech perception.”

› Lots of frustration

Solutions for Hearing Loss Are Not Optimal

15


A Deeper Dive into Hearing with the Lifestyle Leaders

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Experiences of Hearing Deficits

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0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

Balance issuesincluding vertigo

Hearing loss in theleft ear

Hearing loss in theright ear

Tinnitus Other (pleasespecify)

None of the above

Freq

uenc

y

Diagnosis

Have you been diagnosed by a doctor or other health professional as having any of the following conditions?


In Their Words

18

Hearing loss is “like tryingto understand

in a foreign country.”

“You know when you have hearing loss it

doesn’t happen, ‘Boom!’ I probably

had hearing loss for several years. Ididn’t notice my

hearing was going worse, but it was

happening.”


Social Impacts of Hearing Loss Are Profound

19

“I live in a place where we have

dinner together, a hundred of us

every night in a large room. I couldn't hear.

My wife still can't hear in that room.”

“I'm very limited. I miss all the

nuances. I, God damn it, you can’t hear jokes when

you… So everybody's

laughing, and I don't know what the

hell they're doing.”

“People are not going to be socializing if they can’t hear easily. They just sort

of disappear into their apartments, and I think

that’s a shame. I just realized

it’s tending to make me isolate myself because this

[my apartment] is theplace I hear best, with a

hearing aid in, the headphones on, watching

television.


Hearing Has A Negative Effect on Activity Engagement

20

“You start to feel leftout of things. Your hearing starts to

control what you do or don't do; what

you look forward to or don't look forward

to.”

“I can’t do the things that

you’re supposed to do when you

get old.”


Hearing, Safety and Security

21

"As it is now, I leave my

apartment door unlock[ed]; friends worry, [but] I do not hear knocks so [it]encourages [them]

to come in and check.”

“Fire alarms can be scary, and the older

youget, the scarier they get. I was not able to

hear, a few years ago. Twice, I

couldn't hear, and a friend woke me up in

bed.”


Impacts of Hearing Assistive Technologies

22

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

Psychologicalwellbeing

Relationshipswith other

people

Sense of safetyand security

Memory andconcentration

Physical health Financialwellbeing

Energy level orhow tired youfeel everyday

Freq

uenc

y

Domain

Has made it better

Has not affected itat all

Has made it worse


But Why Do Only 75% Use Assistive Technologies?

23


A Framework for Understanding Technology Adoption

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Source: Lee & Coughlin 2014


› Those who had adopted and regularly used a device that worked effectively for them were unlikely to stop using it

› People were more likely to say they had stopped using a device if it did not meet their expectations: uncomfortable, did not work as well as expected

› Design issues affect use: wires + manuals, batteries and poor fit

Functionality Key to Continued Use

25


Big, Beige and Boring Is Out

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Experiences of Stigma Varied

27

› “The craziest thing–here’s what the problem

is, everybody is vain, and they want to have

hearing aids that nobody sees, but what the hell of a difference does it make if you’re 70, 80 years old, if you

have a hearing aid? Doesn’t make a damn

bit of difference, so you shouldn’t care about it.”

– Male

“Of course it felt like anything that's new,

and I couldn't get comfortable with it…. I felt like somebody

else was lookingat it..” - Female


› Access to hearing technologies is not seamless

› Cost of hearing aids can be high, even if there is some subsidy

› Getting assistive devices that work and fit properly can be an onerous process› Transportation is required to go to different

appointments and fittings› Referrals to different specialists and

multiple fittings are frustrating› Trouble-shooting on one’s own is daunting

Delivery Factors Matter a Lot

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1. New expectations among new generations of older adults extend

to their abilities to hear and what they think the technologies

should be able to do for them

2. Adoption of hearing assistive technologies takes place in a

broader framework of adoption

3. Future service and delivery models for hearing assistive

technologies will be different

Three Implications

29

Thank you!

Q&A

Lisa D’[email protected] AgeLab | agelab.mit.edu

mailto:[email protected]

Living Longer and Living Better: Technology and Wellbeing ... · GenX Millennials Post-Millennials...

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