Senior living tech is now a must-have

K4Connect co-founder reveals how the senior living operators’ views on technology have changed since the arrival of COVID-19.
Agetech company K4Connect this week unveiled a new report, based on a survey of staff and residents in senior living communities, which highlights the growing importance of technology in the sector. In particular, the report highlights a growing demand for those technologies that keep older adult residents and community staff connected, engaged and informed.

With the terrible impact of COVID-19 still being felt across the country, K4Connect’s report states that technology is a “universal tool for both residents and staff members to maintain and expand personal connections, better manage daily life in a community setting and increase operational efficiencies.”

Longevity.Technology: It’s common knowledge that older people have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic – not only are they most at risk from the virus itself, but they are also more likely to be impacted by factors such as isolation. We caught up with K4Connect co-founder and CEO Scott Moody to learn more.

When we first spoke with K4Connect last year, COVID-19 had not yet been declared a pandemic. Now, 15 months later, it’s clear that the period has been as challenging for the company as it has for many other businesses, not only due to delays in deployments, but also in terms of seeing the impact on the older demographic it ultimately serves.

“As a society, we were slow in the response to COVID,” says Moody. “And I do think part of that was because it was impacting a part of society that we don’t think about as much – older and less healthy older adults. And we will need to manage our way through that impact for a while. When they talk about COVID’s ‘long tail’, I think that’s particularly relevant in senior living and older adults.”

Technology for living
But, while COVID-19 is still clearly an ongoing concern, Moody is optimistic for the future.
“Now everybody’s really talking about the impact COVID is having, and what permanent impact it will have,” he says. “I think the silver lining could be that older adults are recognised as an important demographic that we need to think about when it comes to technology. And not just health technology, living technology too – engagement, video chat, and all those things that just help you live life.

“Prior to COVID, technology in senior living was seen as a ‘nice to have’ but I think that’s now become a must-have. If you think about the technology adoption curve and ‘crossing the chasm’ – the chasm in this sector has been obliterated, there is no chasm – if you’re not thinking about tech then you’re in the dark ages.”

Moody believes that K4Connect’s approach of unifying technologies under a single “operating system” for senior living communities is well positioned to capitalise on this shift towards technology.

Senior living tech is now a must-have