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Features for Senior Citizens
Professor Says much of New Technology Should be
Known as Nana-Technology
Creates term to define technology to improve life for
senior citizens
 August 16, 2006 – A recent article in
SeniorJournal.com began with – "For many senior citizens the word
"nanotechnology" probably sounds like something out of Star Wars, which,
however, is also a little new for many seniors. But, nanotechnology will
most likely have a profound impact of the lives of many of people as
they face the challenges of aging." Andrew Carle of George Mason
University, however, has a different cut. He has created a new term – "Nana
Technology," to indicate all new technologies - not just the micro
stuff - that improve quality of life
for senior citizens.
Carle, assistant professor for the College of
Health and Human Services (CHHS) and director of its program in assisted
living/senior housing administration, says it is a multibillion dollar
industry serving the rapidly-growing senior population.
“This industry has exploded over the past few years
with the aging of the baby boomers,” said Carle. “Yet, there was no
single term to describe the innovative new products being created to
help improve the lives of older adults.”
Carle specifically defines “Nana” technology as
“technology designed, intended or that can otherwise be used to improve
quality of life for seniors.” Carle further defines five categories for
the technologies that are being produced or developed by companies such
as Intel, GE, Philips and Kimberly-Clark, among others:
● Health products, such as robotic medication
dispensers designed to reduce errors;
● Safety products, such as wireless sensors that
can track movements, location, and identify falls;
● Cognition products, such as computer software
programs that quiz elderly residents or patients regularly and send the
data to a health care professional or family member;
● Lifestyle products that provide a convenience
factor for seniors, such as mailbox sensors that alert the user that
mail has been delivered; and
● Whole-house/whole-facility products that
provide overall home monitoring and management.
“Nana technology has the potential to serve the
entire seniors population, whether living independently or in a
community,” Carle added. “The applications are endless, and we will
continue to see the development of these products over the next two
decades.”
Carle’s term has been featured in USA TODAY and is
being used widely in the industry. The program has recently signed an
agreement with The Mature Market Resource Center to establish annual
“Nana Technology” awards as part of a national competition recognizing
the best new products and technologies for the elderly.
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What is Nanotechnology? |
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Nanotechnology is
the understanding and control of matter at dimensions of roughly
1 to 100 nanometers, where unique phenomena enable novel
applications. Encompassing nanoscale science, engineering and
technology, nanotechnology involves imaging, measuring,
modeling, and manipulating matter at this length scale.
At the nanoscale, the physical, chemical,
and biological properties of materials differ in fundamental and
valuable ways from the properties of individual atoms and
molecules or bulk matter. Nanotechnology R&D is directed toward
understanding and creating improved materials, devices, and
systems that exploit these new properties.
One area of nanotechnology R&D is
medicine. Medical researchers work at
the micro- and nano-scales to develop new drug delivery methods,
therapeutics and pharmaceuticals. For a bit of perspective, the
diameter of DNA, our genetic material, is in the 2.5 nanometer
range, while red blood cells are approximately 2.5 micrometers.
Additional information about
nanoscale research in medicine is available from the
National Institutes of Health.
A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter;
a sheet of paper is about 100,000 nanometers thick. See
The Scale of Things for a comparative view of the
sizes of commonly known items and nanoscale particles.
>>
For more on the National Nanotechnology Initiative – click
here. |
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The first “Nana’s” are scheduled to be presented in
each of the five categories in 2007.
Carle has more than 20 years of senior housing and
healthcare management experience, and is a nationally known presenter
and writer on the seniors housing and care industry. He was one of 15
executives nationally to be named to the Expert Panel on Assisted Living
of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations
(JCAHO), and has received numerous awards for his work in the field.
Notes:
About the Program in Assisted Living/Senior
Housing Administration
The Program in Assisted Living/Senior Housing Administration offers the
nation’s first undergraduate and graduate curriculum dedicated solely to
this rapidly growing field. The program is designed to provide graduates
with the operational, marketing, resident care and hospitality services
skills required to become effective leaders and managers of assisted
living/senior housing communities. Equally important, the program
provides exposure to and understanding of the unique philosophy of
assisted living/senior housing relative to choice, dignity, autonomy and
quality of life for older adults.
About George Mason University
George Mason University has the largest total student enrollment in
Virginia and is the fifth-largest residential institution in the state.
Located near Washington, D.C., in the heart of Northern Virginia’s
technology corridor, George Mason boasts the first doctoral programs in
bioinformatics, computational science and conflict resolution, and its
economics program is the only one in the world with two Nobel Prize
recipients. Founded in 1979, Mason’s School of Law is recognized by
“U.S. News and World Report” as one of the top 50 law schools in the
United States.
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