Tips for aging in place from … Best Buy?

Earlier this week, an editorial was published by NextAvenue titled, “Aging in Place Home Modification Tips for Older Adults.” The byline is attributed to “Lively from Best Buy Health,” a company that was an early entry in the senior-focused tech space.

Lively, formerly known as GreatCall, launched what it calls “the world’s first easy-to-use cell phone” known as the Jitterbug in 2005. At the time, it was angled as an alternative to devices for older users.

Best Buy acquired GreatCall in August 2018, a deal valued at $800 million. Best Buy’s reasoning for the acquisition seven years ago seemingly came with an understanding of the global demographic shifts taking place, which are being treated with some alarm and caution today.

Best Buy “is specifically focused on addressing the growing needs of the aging population with the help of technology products, services and solutions,” the company said at the time.

“The health space is a large, growing market where technology can help in particular address the needs of aging consumers, their caregivers, payers and providers. Today, there are approximately 50 million Americans over age 65, a number that is expected to increase by more than 50 percent within the next 20 years.”

Today, the number of the cohort is estimated at 59.3 million Americans, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The company also explicitly states that it seeks to facilitate solutions that allow for aging in place.

“Together we are focused on enabling care at home by providing consumer health products that help customers live healthier lives, device-based emergency response services for the active aging population, and virtual care offerings that help connect patients and physicians,” Lively explains online.

As for the tips published this week, they include information originally published by the Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) at Harvard University.

These include priorities for decluttering and clearing walkways of obstructions; visual assistance such as more robust lighting and hallway illumination; modifications to bathrooms and kitchens to reduce instances of slipping or to improve ease of use; and a recommendation to enlist experts on how to best to fashion a living space for aging in place.

The potential for assistive technology in the aging-in-place segment is well documented.

Late last year, CEDIA, a trade association dedicated to the advancement of the smart-home technology sector, described how it was seeing serious advancement opportunities for tech vendors who serve older people seeking to age in place.

Last summer, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) said it would seek to provide more support to military veterans who want to age in place in their current homes. Smart-home technology was described as a potential tool to assist these efforts.

Technology has begun taking up more of the conversation around aging in place. Smart-home tools have become more prevalent through U.S. tech giants like Amazon, Apple and Google as more seniors continue to prefer to age in place.