In his December 2019 Canadian Healthcare Technology Magazine article, David Stoller, Managing Director, MySense Canada states: “From the perspective of the aging population, today we are at a cross-roads that requires us to decide if ‘business as usual’ is going to be enough to support the new demographic reality.”…“To support the change, innovators, entrepreneurs and business leaders are working together to develop new solutions and technologies that will allow us to help older adults age gracefully.”
If by gracefully we mean “in a respectful and dignified way” then the design of the technologies should reflect that, and help ensure that the actual end users (older adults and their caregiver community) are part of the product development process, which is one of the key principles of gerontechnology. This too is David Stoller’s mantra, as he shared in my recent interview with him:
“One of my favourite narrative’s in this space is simple: Innovate for the end user, with the end user. This is not about teaching older adults how to use technology, it’s about developing technology that is properly developed for them. If we don’t do that nobody will use the technology… and most importantly, the technologies developed in this sector should fall into a single narrative – quality of life.”
As put forward in last week’s post, technologies that address the quality of life needs of an aging population, in their particular ways, all feed into central life themes, which include but are not limited to: Healthcare Access, Independent Living, Transportation, Personal Mobility, Cognition and Social Connectivity. One could say, as an interrupter of business as usual, MySense well-applies the “innovate for the end user, with the end user” approach.
Essentially MySense designs and delivers home healthcare monitoring systems, which primarily addresses the central life theme of independent living, augmenting with technology the ability to age in place, which could be their own home or other care setting. Without getting too complicated, MySense uses an analytics platform, artificial intelligence (AI) and sensor devices, to detect remotely a person’s behavioural patterns and identify declining health or immediate care needs.
Here is David Stoller’s response in answer to my questions: Who is the primary target market customer for companies such as MySense? When will we start to see these “longevity sector” technology companies with their products showing up more prolifically on the retail market, where they become well-known household brands, affordable and quickly adoptive?
“MySense is already moving to market with the team at Toronto based Baycrest to test and validate our solution in somebody’s home. We’ve also got some very significant strategic partnerships to announce in the first quarter of 2020. For us, the primary target in Canada retirement homes and communities because those are the residents who are living with significant independence, but can benefit from the types of alerts that MySense provides.”
Founded in 2016, MySense is a UK based company and has developed a significant footprint there, working with NHS Trusts and care homes while partnering with organizations such as the well-established AgeUK and Digital Health London. Connections are everything and the move into the Canadian market is showing healthy signs as it establishes its relations in various ways with organizations such as Baycrest, and an innovation program through Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging (RIA).
With this stage set, in closing says Stoller, “We’ve seen users enjoy the data because it allows them to modify their routines and achieve a healthier quality of life, at the same time, the children of users are thrilled with alerts to notify them when their loved one is showing signs of decline. That said the market is not without its challenges. One of the most significant issues is that this sector can be quite risk-averse because when innovation is tested and it doesn’t work, people can get sick, hurt, or worse.”
“In order for tech products to start showing up more prolifically in the retail space we need to see more partnerships between those companies developing the technologies and the organizations with access to a user base. These types of partnerships will allow products to be tested, testimonials acquired, and hopefully, the positive outcomes to help products come to market. That’s what MySense was able to do in the UK to great success, and exactly what we’re doing here in Canada.”
My thanks to David Stoller at MySense for giving us his down to earth view over these last three weeks as I explored one story of technology, and its intersection with aging and longevity.