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Home » Monthly blog archive

May 2026

Why don’t more older women lift weights?

Wed, 05/27/2026 - 16:11 - Laurie Orlov

Older women (and men) are at risk of falling down. Falls are the leading cause of injury-related deaths among older adults. Death rates from falls are increasing, particularly among those aged 75+. Lots of reasons are cited, including medications, snow and ice, or poor vision, among other causes. At the end of one such article, experts noted that ‘staying active’ would help protect against fall risk. Whatever that meant.

category tags: 
mobility, games, fun and fitness
»

Senate hearing looks at fall detection and prevention technology – will it help?

Thu, 05/21/2026 - 10:31 - Laurie Orlov

Falls are a serious problem among the oldest adults.  No one can question the statistics - falls are the leading cause of injury-related death among adults ages 65 and older, and the fall death rate increased by 21% from 2018 to 2024. The Senate’s Committee on Aging has taken note – and this week has launched a request for more tech-enabled innovation. Note the chart below and the increase among the population aged 85 and older.  Also interesting to note that life expectancy has increased during this period – resulting in more people living past age 85.  In fact, mortality rates for older men have been decreasing at a faster rate than for women.

category tags: 
fall prevention, fall detection, AI, seniors and aging policy
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Older Americans removing smart home devices from their homes? Really?

Fri, 05/15/2026 - 09:56 - Laurie Orlov

 A blogger asserts, unquantified, unsupported by any numbers.  But it sounds intriguing, doesn’t it? You picture the unplugging and disconnecting of voice-enabled devices, user-run temperature and light controls.  Get these out of here! Then you say why? Or more to the point, what is the data that supports this?  An 2024 AARP report about growing utility and adoption of smart home technology?  Apparently ‘many retirees are now reconsidering whether devices are improving or creating new frustrations.’ Hard to argue that managing smart home tech to work on your behalf, well, takes work.  But take the devices out?

category tags: 
smart home, smartphones, cellphones
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ChatGPT offers up blog analysis of AgeTech as seen in 2009 and 2025

Fri, 05/08/2026 - 10:05 - Laurie Orlov

This Aging in Place Tech blog was launched officially in 2009. We asked ChatGPT to give the December, 2009 blogs a review and compare them to October, 2025 blogs to see what changed in terms of topics and tone.  In 2009, it detected an emerging market and observations about immature and simplistic products and gadgetry. Remember GE’s acquisition of QuietCare? It detected frustration with fragmented markets, poor adoption and naïve assumptions in the market about older adults. ChatGPT also noticed observations about poor usability and lack of integration among products, vendor hype (touch screens had just emerged), as well as the need for market education.  The belief in 2009 was that older adults could and would adopt technology if it is useful and respectful.

category tags: 
AgeTech, aging in place, AI Agents, AI and machine learning, Conversational and generative AI, Voice/AI/Voice Assistants
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