[Chapter-delegates] Seniors and Technology

[irene farina]

Great info Glenn, governments, companies, and civil society ought to rethink many of our systems to face the realities, needs and also, many opportunities, of the aging population.
I am currently organizing a related event in Costa Rica (Expo Silver Economy), if anyone knows how to get in touch with the Panasonic Aging Dept or related contacts, much appreciated. 
Kind regards, 
Irene Fariña 

    El miércoles, 1 de julio de 2026, 10:49:45 a.m. CST, Alejandro Lengua via Chapter-delegates <chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org> escribió:  
 
 I wonder if there is any fund that promotes improving the interfaces of devices such as Google Chromecast or Apple TV to make them more elderly-friendly.
On Tue, Jun 30, 2026 at 12:39 PM Glenn McKnight via Chapter-delegates <chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org> wrote:

Hi All FYI article on providing technology to seniors in Japanhttps://www.texastribune.org/2026/06/26/texas-japan-seniors-technology-monitoring-devices/?utm_campaign=Newsletters&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sendgrid

TOKYO — In Shibuya, home to one of Tokyo’s busiest train stations and shopping destinations, seniors can choose a monitoring service and the city will install it and pay for the service subscription for up to a year.

They can pick Hello Light, an LED lightbulb that autonomously sends text messages to caretakers when the light hasn’t been turned on for a while.

Or, MaBeee, a battery that powers TV remotes, lights and other small devices and alerts family members when they are not being used.

There’s also Bocco, which can store medication reminders, transmit weather alerts and tell when the home is too hot or too cold. A nod to Japan’s affinity for anthropomorphic packaging, the messaging device is shaped like a small snowman.

“One of the biggest problems we have in Japan, in this [elder care] industry, is the gap between the demand and the supply because there are a growing number of elderly people but we are understaffed,” said Masaru Yamaoka, general manager of Panasonic’s Smart Aging Project, one of many divisions housed within Japan’s corporate brands focused on technology for the aging population.

Finding sustainable, low-cost ways to care for the elderly population is a problem Texas is all too familiar with and Japan, home to the world’s largest over-65 population at 36 million, is beating Texas in solving.
Chronic workforce shortages along with rising costs to care for a growing older population have prompted Japan — from companies to local governments — to heavily invest in technology to make it easier for family members to remotely monitor the elderly. The country’s aim is to keep aging residents in their homes, rather than in an expensive nursing home, for as long as they can.
Texas shares the same goal. Keeping older Texans healthier in their own home not only costs both the healthcare system less, but most people prefer it.

“I’ve never heard anyone say, ‘Gee, I hope I end up in a long-term care facility,” said Karen Fingerman, director of the Texas Aging and Longevity Center at the University of Texas at Austin. “If you’re going to have all this technology, which most of us have some, at least, wouldn’t it be better if it were more usable and it were designed as you get older to have the ability to help you stay in your own home?”



Glenn McKnight, MA Virtual School of Internet Governance Chief Information Officerwww.virtualsig.org YOUR SOURCE FOR INTERNET GOVERNANCE EDUCATION Mobile  437-237-4655
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