QUALITY IMPROVEMENT


Aging2.0: Where Start-up Culture Meets Senior Living


By Sara Wildberger A


ging2.0 resulted from an aha! moment: Match the techniques and processes developed to promote in-


novation in the high-tech world to the press- ing needs in aging and senior care worldwide. Co-founder and chief executive officer Stephen Johnston was at Nokia when one of his clients began experiencing dementia. He heard from the client and the family—and he saw for himself—the shortage of helpful products and services for older people, and realized how innovation could help bridge the gap. So in 2012, Johnston and co-founder and gerontologist Katy Fike started Aging2.0. Today, Aging2.0 applies processes and


tools from the innovation world—such as holding startup boot camps and using “design thinking” methods. The group identifies both needs and business oppor- tunities, mapping where these overlap, and encouraging collaboration in that space. The results can be anything from a key- board that’s easier for older adults to use to a full-scale rethink of residential design— designing with residents, rather than designing for them. There are more than 50 volunteer chapters in its community of 15,000 people in 20 countries, as well as more than 150 corporate alliance members. Here, Johnston shares some of Aging2.0’s


initiatives and how the senior living industry can further benefit and collaborate.


“Intergenerational, international, and interdisciplinary”. These are the big three qualities that fuel Aging2.0 innovation, says Johnston. “We spend a lot of time helping people collab- orate across silos and boundaries. Our job is to connect the next generation of ideas and innovators with the industry. We’re just doing what we can to improve the life


38 SENI LIVIN EECTIVE / ISSUE 2 2017


of older adults. Sometimes that will be in transport, sometimes finance, sometimes in other areas.”


Innovation can be anywhere. Although many of the Aging2.0 ideas and start-ups come from Silicon Valley, Johnston points to Nashville, Tenn., Louisville, Ky., Denmark, and Taipei as places where in- novation is happening in the senior living space. Last year saw 34 pitch events with participants from 25 countries. “There’s not one center of aging innovation,” Johnston says. “We have a global reach, and that’s where the chapters come in handy.”


A global experience—in one place. Aging2.0 holds three regional conferences worldwide—this year in Belgium, Toronto, and Taipei—capped by Optimize, in No- vember in San Francisco. “We ask: What are the global trends? A lot of countries are working on fairly similar issues, so there may be ways we in the United States can develop and improve our models.” At Optimize, senior living executives have


an ecient way to engage with global inno- vations—such as getting a look at presenta- tions from the startup search finalistswith- out having to fly around the world to find them, and get a sense of what’s going to be happening in aging two to four years down the line. Panels and educational sessions have a vibe that’s generationally mixed and a serious, but casual, workshop approach.


Creating a better life experience. “There’s a shift going on in the services space. Companies are trying to decide how to navigate housing versus health, but if you take it from a user-centric perspective, it doesn't have to be one or the other—it’s a


Thought Leader Prole


Stephen Johnston Co-Founder and Chief Executive cer ging


more holistic experience. I think there’s an opportunity for the industry to step up and use their assets to give the older adult within their walls a much better experience.”


What’s new with you? Aging2.0 is interested in residences that are piloting their own innovations, too. The group is working on tracking innovations to get a “better sense of who’s doing what, who has funding, who’s got a customer—we want to be the best source of genuine in- novation data in the market. We think that would be a huge help for our partners.”


Finding the focus. Aging2.0’s Grand Challenges initiative rose from a design-thinking type of question: What are the biggest challenges that are in common to people around the world as they become older, and where can we have the biggest impact? The 12 topics resulting, identified through years of dialogue with older adults, entrepreneurs, and senior care providers, include livable communi- ties, care operations and stang, mobility and movement, and cognitive impairment. Stakeholder groups from the Aging2.0 net- work across 20 countries are collaborating with those already working in these areas to focus on the dozen challenge areas.


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