Now Available: Joop Koopman’s, report for Bayard Presse on the annual conference of the American Society on Aging, March 12-15th in Chicago.

Commentary on presentations by: Aging in Place Technology Watch’s Laurie Orlov, gerontologist Ken Dychtwald, Mary Furlong’s What’s Next Summit preceding ASA, AARP, Scott Collins of Link-age Connect, Caring.com and Louis Tenenbaum.

Technologies: Care Innovations, GrandCare Systems and Philips.

Communities: On Lok Lifeways, Avenidas (virtual).

“The reality remains startling: between 2010 and 2050 the US population of 65 and older will have doubled to close to 80M. There are 40M Americans over 65 today; already there are 5M people older than 85, half of whom are still at home and almost half of whom suffer from some form of dementia. Worldwide, 15 percent of the population is 65-plus—a figure that will increase exponentially. Nearly 40 percent of the developed world will be over 55 by 2050.”

… “Key players in the realm of software and hardware that are making Aging-in-Place a reality are, to name but a handful, are Philips’ Healthcare at Home (prominently present at ASA with a large display in the exhibit hall and through sponsorship of general sessions); CareInnovations, a partnership of General Electric and Intel—the partnership forged precisely because the Aging-in-Place market remains scattered and unfocused and thus hard to penetrate; and GrandCare Systems, whose VP of Business Development [Laura] Mitchell elaborated on a major deal with Saga in the UK, that country’s counterpart to AARP, for the sale and distribution of a computer-like device capable of comprehensive health, security, and movement monitoring in the home. The company is pursuing sales elsewhere in Europe as well…”

Joop Koopman is an experienced writer/journalist, with a background in Catholic media (as editor and publisher), baby boomer-oriented marketing, as well as public relations serving both commercial and non-profit clients and causes. He currently provides a stable of European magazines catering to the 50-plus audience with information on US marketing trends. He is fluent in Dutch and French.