n Technology Today’s seniors and their families demand video streaming and ubiquitous Wi-Fi, and operators need the infrastructure to handle it. By Eric Taub As a new generation of Americans age and begin to move into assisted living, the old tale that the elderly neither understand nor care about technology is falling by the wayside. Today’s assisted living residents are increas-ingly adept at technology, and they’re bring-ing their devices with them when they move into their new digs. Tablets, cell phones, lap-tops and smart TVs, once relegated to younger generations, are being embraced by seniors in their 70s and 80s, individuals for whom digital devices have already been a part of their lives. Less than half a decade ago, assisted living residences could safely get away without offer-ing facility-wide internet connections, leav-ing those who wanted to connect their digital devices to subscribe to a local internet provider on their own. But today, residents (and their adult children) demand connectivity, not just in their senior apartments, but throughout their residence, allowing them to easily communicate, stream and get remote medical assistance wherever they are. According to a January report from the Pew Research Center, smartphone and tablet own-ership, as well as use of social media, has dra-matically increased among persons over age 65, and the gap between that group’s usage and younger individuals has dramatically closed. Smartphone usage for those over 65 has grown from 13 percent 10 years ago to 61 per-cent today, while tablet use has increased from 6 percent to 44 percent. Social media engage-ment for the over-65 demographic has under-gone similar growth, jumping from 16 percent in 2012 to 45 percent today. Internet access has also increased among the older population. Today 75 percent of adults 65 and older use the web. Twenty years ago, the gap between internet usage for young versus older adults was 56 percentage points; today it’s narrowed to just 24. “Internet access in senior living has become as important as any utility, like water, electric-ity and heat,” says Majd Alwan, senior vice president of technology and business strategy for LeadingAge, and executive director of the Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST). Dispelling the Technophobia Myth A diagram from EnGenius shows the infrastructure needed, including internet, wireless access points and power-over-ethernet (PoE) switches, to ensure all devices in a seniors housing community have web access. Post-pandemic shift There’s no doubt that the COVID-19 pan-demic, with its mandated social isolation, dra-matically increased the need for internet access, says Alwan. As a result, there’s been significant growth among the elderly in the use of social connectiveness devices, video streaming and voice control products such as Amazon’s Alexa devices. And thanks to a decision by the Cen-ters for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to reimburse telehealth visits during the pan-demic, the internet has become an important health-related technology as well. Senior living providers “significantly increased their use of telehealth, social con-nectedness technologies and data analytics,” according to last year’s LeadingAge Ziegler 200 report. The study found that the use of tele-health and remote patient monitoring had grown to 44 percent of communities surveyed, up from just 20 percent in 2019. And resident use of social connectedness and engagement technologies had increased from 50 percent in 2018 to 66 percent in 2020. Ubiquitous Wi-Fi and internet coverage throughout a senior living facility is not just for the residents’ enjoyment; it is just as important for the staff. Blanket Wi-Fi coverage enables staff to moni-tor residents’ health using various personal emergency response system (PERS) devices. Remote patient monitoring products allow caregivers to check residents’ vital signs, and internet-connected geofencing products can alert staff when a memory care patient wan-ders. In addition, always-on access to electronic medical records allows staff to upload patient data to the cloud while checking on residents, rather than having to wait until they arrive back at their workstations. To further differentiate themselves from the competition, many assisted living residences are promoting their gourmet-level food ser-vices. Residents learn about the day’s menu Seniors Housing Business n 30 www.seniorshousingbusiness.com February-March 2022
Seniors Housing Business February/March 2022: Page 30
