Our research, outreach, convenings and collaborative projects are designed to provide a forum for cross-sector players to access the information and tools they need to accelerate innovation in the field. As an academic institution and a neutral convener of thought leaders, we share our output with the ecosystem.
In 2016, 15.9 million family members and friends provided 18.2 billion hours of unpaid care to their loved one with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. This contribution of care is valued at $230 billion.
How do these massive numbers translate to an individual family situation? With support from Transamerica, the AgingWell Hub developed this calculator as an educational tool to help families better understand what to anticipate in terms of the trajectory of the disease by stage and the impact on the family caregiver(s) and what factors can drive the cost of care such as whether a loved one lives at home or in a community residential setting.
Collaborative Projects
Retirement Journey Map
With 10,000 Baby Boomers turning age 65 every day and increased longevity—especially increased healthy longevity—not only is there an immense retirement wave, but a huge shift in what today’s retirement lifestyle looks like compared to what previous generations prepared for and envisioned after full-time work.
The Georgetown University’s AgingWell Hub has developed the No Normal Retirement Journey Maps and Guide, a practical and interactive tool for re-imagining and charting individual paths to and through retirement, along with its design partner, Human Spark, and through the support of the Alliance for Lifetime Income’s Retirement Income Institute. The No Normal Retirement Journey Maps and Guide offer individuals tools to visualize and plan the various stages, events and decision points along this retirement journey, and the personal, emotional, and financial consequences of each. The Journey Maps illustrate how six primary levers—health, finances, learning, purpose, community, and resilience—can be used to navigate the journey to a happy, financially secure, and fulfilled life after a full-time career.
Caregiver Journey Map
In 2017, the AgingWell Hub led a group of leaders representing industry (pharmaceutical, technology, a health care system, nonprofits, and academia) to capture the multi-stage, 360-degree experience of an individual caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease.
Insights from the journey map are being applied in several ways: to inform and improve new product and service delivery; to change patient and caregiver support in clinical settings; and in advocacy efforts to increase support for caregiver legislation.
Re-Imagining Living Environments of the Future
The home environment that older adults create as they age will have a significant impact on the U.S. housing market and on the products and services designed to serve and support homeowners and renters.
The AgingWell Hub collaborated with a diverse, cross-sector team of industry players over a five-month period in 2018 to explore, debate, and visualize the myriad factors that will influence how older adults will navigate their future living environments – social context, transportation, finances, health, access to retail and entertainment and more.
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Past Convenings
The Spoken Hub
The Spoken Hub: Creating Integrated Environments Conducive to Aging Well explored ideas for creating an ecosystem that is better equipped to provide for the needs of an aging population.
Featured guests:
- Kimberly O’Loughlin, Senior Vice President, Business Development, Home Monitoring, Philips
- Whitney Austin Gray, PhD, LEED AP, Senior Vice President, Business Development Delos; WELL Faculty, International WELL Building Institute
- George Hennawi, MD, CMD, FACP, Director of Geriatrics, MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital; Medical Director, Center for Successful Aging; Medical Director, Future Care at Good Samaritan Nursing Center; Assistant Clinical Professor, University of Maryland
Key topics:
- Need for collaborative efforts, both within and outside of the healthcare system, that will allow people to age in the place they call home, such as:
- Solutions within the built space that utilize innovative design to create space that facilitate healthy living
- Clinical and community supports that can enable and empower caregivers, making them an integral part of the care team so that they can better support patients
Whitney Austin Gray
Dr. George Hennawi
Research
Next Generation Tech
The results of the Philips/Business for Impact study and the individual barriers to technology were discussed in an expert roundtable at Georgetown University. Meeting participants included thought leaders with expertise in aging, residential and commercial development, city planning, healthcare, technology, and policy.
Creating Connected Communities for Aging Well
This study reveals that boomers are not considering steps to remain independent as they age. 96% of U.S. respondents say it’s important to be as independent as possible as they get older; only 21% plan to incorporate technology solutions.
Family Matters in Caregiving and Technology Adoption
Our aging research shows caregivers already spend an average of 66 hours per month on basic home health care activities, and are so focused on their role as guardian for the care recipient that meeting basic needs for personal hygiene, food, safety, health, etc. all come before technology.