The high-tech tools enhancing senior living now.

Retirement Living

By ELIZABETH COGAR and MINDY KINSEY | Illustrations by SHAW NIELSEN

Good news for seniors: As the fastest growing segment of the population—with nearly twice the average spending power in the U.S.—businesses are taking notice.

Tech companies are mobilizing their best and brightest to develop new products for the over-60 set. Retirement communities are investing in upgraded amenities like on-staff nutritionists and continuing education classes. And when it’s time to make a move, specialized “senior move managers" assist with downsizing and offer extra T.L.C. during the transition.

Here, we’ve rounded up a few of the innovative products and services for seniors that we think are just swell.

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TECH TOOLS FOR SENIORS

Even in memory care, “nana” technology is winning fans.

TECHNOLOGY IS HELPING OLDER adults stay sharp and expand their horizons in surprising new ways. At The Virginian, a continuum care community in Fairfax, tech tools are being fully integrated into the resident experience from independent living to memory care, where tech-focused games and activities keep brains and hands busy.

“Our goal is to be ‘high touch high tech,’” says Virginian executive director Andrew Carle, who worked with Georgetown University to develop a graduate-level Senior Living Administration concentration—the only one of its kind in the country. Says Carle, who has been designing memory care programs for more than 25 years, “We’ve got the perfect demographic here in Northern Virginia because many of our residents had careers in technology.”

Carle strives to address what he calls “the ABCs of dementia—apathy, boredom, and communication.” A new gaming system, Obie for Seniors, tackles all three, he says, and it was recently installed at The Virginian. “It’s fun, engaging, and fosters communication.”

Projected onto a wall, table, or floor, games cover four skill levels—from easy (“popping” bubbles) to paint-by-numbers and bingo which require a higher cognitive skill set. Up to four people can play. "This has really improved our ability to connect with our memory care residents," says Lisa Semonick, director of life enrichment at The Virginian. “They are having fun but so is the staff, which enhances the positive feel of the therapeutic milieu, even as we gather important engagement data.”

Obie is part of a wave of innovations designed specifically for older adults. Carle coined the phrase Nana Technology™, a play on the scientific