Aging
We all age, but in the future, we may age more slowly and for longer. This issue of What the Future: Aging will explore the decisions it will take on everything from personal finance, housing and zoning, public policy, healthcare, science and technology to realize living better, longer.
Our current population is getting older and fewer people are having children. At the same time, advances in science and technology allow us to live better for longer. These patterns will create several tensions as we age. Can we remain independent and age at home? How will we afford our care? Who will care for us as demand grows and caregivers decline? Will elders accept help from technology or even robots? How will we manage our appearance as we age? Opinions about these tensions won’t be the only thing that impact the future, but they will shape how we respond. What happens if they shift?
In this Aging issue of What the Future, we explore today’s data, discuss these questions and tensions with experts and imagine what’s next for aging. Picking up where we left off in last month’s Wellness issue, we’ll talk through the implications of how living well can lead to living longer. We’ll talk with experts from aging organizations, consumer beauty and technology companies to understand where consumers are today and what that means for business tomorrow.
Be sure to subscribe to the What the Future newsletter for new topics each month. And join us for our March 10 webinar as we explore these trends. These are questions we discussed with experts from aging organizations, consumer beauty and technology companies:
- Ramsey Alwin, president and CEO of the National Council on Aging — How will we fill caregiver demand as more people age in place?
- Dor Skuler, CEO, co-founder, Intuition Robotics — How will technology change how we care for elders?
- Rodney Harrell, Ph.D, AARP’s Housing lead; Vice president, AARP Public Policy Institute — What will it take to make the dream of aging-in-place a reality?
- Kevin Shapiro, Senior vice president of U.S. marketing, consumer beauty, Coty — How will people define beauty as they age?
For full results, please refer to the annotated questionnaire.