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In Sickness and In Health Part 2: Raising Their Voices

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Some people — especially women — find their true voice later in life, when they’ve developed a strong sense of self and no longer give a hoot what others may think. It’s then that they can own and enjoy aging, and what comes next. 

But what happens when the voice belongs not to an elder, but to an AI: Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant?

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In A Different Voice

imagesVoice-powered technologies aren’t just altering the way we shop, drive and search. They’re also becoming a powerful health care tool.

“Smart speakers,” which might once have referred to seasoned presenters on the lecture circuit, now describe healthcare IT voices that can access actionable information from medical records for clinical teams in real time, discover whether a bed is available in the ICU — even help streamline organ transplant procedures, saving critical minutes in environments where seconds can have a dramatic impact on outcomes.

All of which is fantastic in a medical setting. But will seniors embrace voice technology on a personal level?

Is There An Echo In Here?

The answer is a resounding “yes”. AgeLab refutes a number of stereotypical beliefs, such as “We don’t like technology,” and We’re brand-loyal for life.” As professionals in the reverse mortgage field are well aware, retirement is undergoing a significant reinvention. Affirms AgeLab Director Joseph Coughlin, “Businesses must reset their expectations of the older market, or miss a multi-trillion dollar opportunity.”

Like astute LOs, he’s right on the money. AgeInPlaceTech.com reports that estimated growth in smart speakers is up 93% in 2018 from 2017, and seniors love it. They use digital assistants because:

  • They want to be hands-free. (55%)
  • It’s fun! (23%)
  • Spoken language feels more natural than typing. (22%)

“Voice technology is intuitive for people of all ages,” says Sami Hassenyeh, Chief Digital Officer for AARP.

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Voice technology also serves a valuable role in mitigating social isolation and loneliness for many older adults. As we’ve explored a number of times, social isolation has been linked to poorer health outcomes, increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke. Voice technology allows a form of “call and response.” AARP Foundation is currently conducting a pilot study to determine its use in reducing isolation and improving health outcomes: “People feel less lonely talking to Alexa.” 

We’ll All Get There…

Perhaps the most persuasive argument for smart speakers and other forms of voice technology is this: we’ll all cross the digital divide eventually. As Kai Stinchcombe, co-founder of a San Francisco-based financial services firm focused on older Americans, writes, digital natives will get old, too.

Of older tech adopters, he writes, “It’s not just a matter of declining abilities: The fast-moving technology world places serious demands on our brains to learn new behavior patterns. Even today’s Millennials, raised in a digital world, will hit these obstacles over time and start to find new technologies harder and harder to adopt.”

Are You Hip?

One company is hip to health tech, literally: they’ve developed an airbag contained in a belt that deploys instantaneously when a senior falls, surrounding and protecting elder hips from the dreaded hip fracture so prevalent in our 70s, 80s, 90s and beyond.

The hip airbags are currently being tested in the U.S. at a California retirement community. It seems to be only a matter of time until, when an elder falls and the hip airbag deploys, saving their older bones from serious injury, the senior’s voice tech companion inquires, “Are you OK? Would you like me to contact the doctor?”

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