The LongRun Technology Innovation Program

Promoting the development of key technologies needed by the elder care market

An Urgent Need for New Technologyy
The baby boomers are aging. It is important to begin developing the underlying technologies necessary to support a sizable population of older people and to prevent the advancing population surge from placing an extreme burden on care-giving and public finance systems. The current infrastructure in the U.S. is ill-prepared to meet the increasing demand. Without the development of new technologies and approaches, it will be challenging to address the needs of an aging population. New approaches and technical breakthroughs are needed in the following areas:

• Methods to support cognitive disabilities and dementia
• Cost-effective management of chronic medical conditions
• Technologies and social programs to support aging in place
• Assistive devices to address mobility restrictions
• Enhanced methods for connecting distributed families
• Preventive health and wellness programs
• Caregiver support

If technology development starts now, the prospects for comfortable and healthy aging for individuals will be enhanced, and the risk of aging baby boomers overwhelming public support systems will be reduced.

The University Can Make a Difference
Stanford University students and faculty are known for innovative thinking, especially with regard to developing new technology. Stanford has fostered a unique culture for developing break-through concepts and working prototypes, and the University is known for its support of entrepreneurial endeavors.

Removing the Barriers for Technology Development
The rapid growth of the population of individuals aged 60 and older has created pressure on health care and home-care systems that requires prompt action. Quite simply, the number of available caregivers cannot grow as quickly as the number of those needing care. Technology provides an opportunity to bridge this gap while maintaining quality of care in a cost-effective manner. Solutions are needed to improve the quality of life for those with age-related erosion of cognitive function, and those with mobility restrictions. Since families are often located far from elder family members with health problems, there is also a need for greater connectivity. In addition, there is need to provide support to the caregivers, who are often isolated and at risk for stress related problems.

The LongRun Program
The LongRun Program will accelerate the successful development and translation of new technologies by providing research groups and technology developers with information that will reduce the barriers and help to spur technology innovations.

The program will:

1) Analyze the needs of the aging population;

2) Develop a technology “road-map” detailing research and developmentpriorities;

3) Provide seed-grant funding to Stanford research groups that focus on technology development and aging;

4) Provide Stanford research groups with access to a network of test sites and user groups to facilitate research validation and efficacy studies;

5) Provide educational, mentoring and research opportunities to Stanford students involved in research on technology and aging; and

6) Work with the Stanford Office of Technology Licensing to facilitate the translation of technologies and systems from the University to the commercial world.