What Is The Heart of Social Innovation?

What Is The Heart of Social Innovation?

When we think of innovation, we often think of the latest gadget, the latest technology trend or the latest digital application – but what if these innovations forget the basics? What if they forget human need? What happens as we age and ‘solutions’ don’t target our basic needs?

Mobility is one area that is critically underserved, or at least under-appreciated; like sight or hearing, we tend to take it for granted. But with reduced mobility, or lack of access to affordable transportation, we lose connection to the outside world – and we become socially and physically isolated. Social isolation affects people both emotionally and physically, and older adults who struggle financially are at an even greater risk of isolation.

In the next ten years, more than 11 million adults will stop driving due to age related impairments. Over 8 million of these older adults have no smartphone and limited experience with new technology. Many of them will be forced to rely on a patchwork of friends, family, community members and caregivers to get around.

GoGoGrandparent is one of the very few mobility focused startups that sees the opportunity to do well while doing good. They focus on solving the transportation needs of older adults by connecting seniors to ride sharing services such as Lyft, and providing personalized services that give caregivers peace of mind. In the long run, they also aim to expand into meals, groceries, and medicine delivery through a virtual caregiving platform that enables older adults to live independently much longer. This reduces isolation and improves quality of life.

There is no one-size-fits-all solutions – and this is just the beginning of how technology innovation can be used to improve the well-being of older adults. As the number of older adults increases – there are now more people older than 65 than those younger than 5 – so will the needs for addressing their health care challenges, including those created by loneliness and isolation.

Which begs the question – why aren’t more entrepreneurs focusing on this demographic? There are approximately 115 million people aged 50 and above in the U.S. alone – along with over 40 million unpaid caregivers. Not only are we living longer, we are also working longer and have increasingly complex needs – from a social, healthcare, and financial perspective.

Today, 1 in 7 seniors live in poverty, according to AARP Foundation; nearly 1 in 5 adults is affected by social isolation and 46% of women aged 75 and older live alone. Many of these are homebound due to medical conditions or lack of access to transportation. What role(s) will technologies such as voice play to combat the loneliness epidemic that has real health and financial consequences? And how will we respond – as innovators and technologists – to address the issue of mobility in a more empathetic way?

It is not only our social responsibility to take care of our aging families: How we address the needs of a growing aging population – and other, largely forgotten demographics of our society – speaks volumes about who we are as humans. Innovation starts within our own heart.

Listen in to our new episode of Shades of Grey on iTunes, as we chat with Justin Boogaard from GoGoGrandparent on using technology for good, his journey towards innovating for the older adults, and more.

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