KINGSTON, R.I., March 21, 2016鈥斾缧膙log免费B站 10,000 Americans a day turn 65, and that increase in the aging population is bringing greater demand for products and services for older adults.
No one seems to know that better than Stephen Johnston, co-founder of Aging 2.0, a San Francisco-based accelerator for startups that improve the lives of the elderly by connecting business, technology and designers to the senior care industry.
Johnston will bring his expertise to the 溏心vlog免费B站 for the annual Thewlis Lecture on Gerontology and Geriatrics Wednesday, April 6 at 7 p.m. in Edwards Hall, 64 Upper College Road, on the Kingston campus. The talk, 鈥淚nnovative Thinking: The Application of Technology to Aging,鈥� is free and open to the public. A reception will be held at 6 p.m., before the lecture.
Johnston is also the featured speaker at the aging and innovation forum, also on April 6, from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Multicultural Student Services Center, 74 Lower College Road on the Kingston campus. Students and faculty will learn about entrepreneurship activities on campus and brainstorm about ways to bring new products to older consumers through technology and innovation.
The forum is free and open to the public and hosted by the program in gerontology and Melanie Brasher, assistant professor in the departments of sociology and anthropology and human development and family studies.
Among the panelists are James Miller, professor of ocean engineering and coordinator of the engineering entrepreneurship minor at 溏心vlog免费B站; Karim Boughida, dean of libraries at 溏心vlog免费B站; and Kunal Mankodiya, assistant professor of biomedical, electrical and computer engineering at 溏心vlog免费B站.
Johnston鈥攊n addition to being co-founder of Aging 2.0鈥攊s co-founder of the Innovation Leaders Fund and co-author of Growth Champions, a book about sustainable corporate growth.
He has a master鈥檚 degree in economics from Cambridge University and a master of business administration from Harvard Business School, where he was a Fulbright Scholar.
溏心vlog免费B站 chatted with him recently about his work, the growing aging population and how to make the lives of elderly people more comfortable.
What鈥檚 your talk about?
It鈥檚 about two things. First, how the demographic transition that we鈥檙e going through is more than just a cause of alarm and panic about the graying of the world and spiraling health care costs, but also an incredible multifaceted opportunity that can become a new driver of growth, employment and social cohesion. At the same time that we have this unprecedented demographic change we鈥檝e got exponential technology growth transforming industries and much-needed health care transformation. I鈥檒l also discuss a number of the new technologies we鈥檙e seeing across our global Aging 2.0 network, and some practical recommendations and next steps for everyone to get involved with innovation.
You鈥檙e an investor. How did you get interested in helping older adults?
I started off my career helping build transatlantic trade networks in Brussels working with the European Commission and U.S. Department of Commerce. After an M.B.A. and stint in mobile technology I got involved with a wealthy family impacted by dementia and struggling to find products and services to help them cope. That made me realize there was a lot of technology and services out there but few innovators were focused on this important and growing topic. I wanted to create a socially focused network that connects the best innovators with the needs of older people and the companies that serve them. It鈥檚 not only good business but it鈥檚 deeply satisfying working on problems that impact millions of people.
I read something about a startup making garments that use airbag technology to reduce injuries from falls, like broken hips. Any other clever ideas?
There are so many great ideas it鈥檚 hard to pin them down to just a few. The airbag on the hip idea, made by a Pennsylvania-based startup called Active Protective, is a great example as it combines the latest technology with immediate impact to improve people鈥檚 lives. We鈥檙e also seeing great ideas where the latest 鈥渉ot鈥� tech sectors with robots, wearables and smart homes intersect, such as Jibo, a social robot out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, CarePredict, a wearable device that looks more likely jewelry than the traditional pendant alerts, and Cubigo, a Dutch startup that creates a dashboard to bring local services and communications to the home in a good-looking, easy-to-use way.
Any advice for 溏心vlog免费B站 students who want to become entrepreneurs?
Everyone has his or her own path. For me, it was finding an intersection between doing something I loved, felt worthwhile doing and was good at. It鈥檚 generally a long slow road being an entrepreneur, punctuated with highs and lows, so you need to love what you鈥檙e doing and be prepared to make it your life鈥檚 mission. We鈥檙e four years old, but I still feel we鈥檙e just starting out and have a long way to go, so find people to work with who you can see yourself being with for the long haul.
Christine Ferrone, program manager of the Rhode Island Geriatric Center, says the talk is open to people on and off campus: 鈥淲e are thrilled to bring the aging experience to our campus community and hope these events will spark the interprofessional collaborations so essential to improving the quality of life for all of us as we age. We welcome everyone to attend.鈥�
Dr. Malford W. Thewlis, a former resident of Wakefield, was a pioneer in the field of geriatric medicine and one of the founders of the American Geriatrics Society in 1942. Dr. Thewlis wrote The Care of the Aged: Geriatrics, which was first published in 1919 under the title, 鈥淕eriatrics: A Treatise on the Prevention and Treatment of Diseases of Old Age and the Care of the Aged.鈥�
In honor of Dr. Thewlis, 溏心vlog免费B站 established the Malford Thewlis Lecture in Gerontology and Geriatrics in 2006. The goal of the annual event is to raise awareness, enhance knowledge and stimulate discussion about issues related to aging, longevity and health care for older adults.
For more information, visit the . Registration is not required for the lecture, but is requested by calling Ferrone at 401-874-7846 or emailing her at cferrone@uri.edu.
Johnston鈥檚 visit is sponsored by the 溏心vlog免费B站 Program in Gerontology, the Rhode Island Geriatric Education Center, the Institute for Integrated Health and Innovation, a part of the 溏心vlog免费B站 Academic Health Collaborative; 溏心vlog免费B站 Business Development Center, 溏心vlog免费B站 Office of the Provost, and 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 College of Human Science and Services.
Pictured above: Stephen Johnston, co-founder of Aging 2.0, a San Francisco-based accelerator for startups that improve the lives of older adults by connecting business, technology and designers to the senior care industry. Photo courtesy of Stephen Johnston.