The Institute of Medicine (a unit of the National Academies) released a new report "Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce" that discusses needs to rethink and to expand current practices of caring for older adults. Its authors, an ad hoc Committee on the Future Health Care Workforce for Older Americans, makes three high-level recommendations: 1) enhance the geriatric competence of the entire workforce; 2) increase the recruitment and retention of geriatric specialists and caregivers; 3) improve the way care is delivered. The committee further recommends "that federal agencies provide support for the development of technological advancements that could enhance individuals' capacity to provide care for older patients. This includes the use of assistive technologies that may reduce the need for formal care and improve the safety of care and caregiving [and] health information technologies and remote monitoring technologies [that] improve communication among all caregivers and enable health professionals to be more efficient."

A pair of recent reports indicate that older adult want to use technology to preserve independent living. One was conducted by AARP; the other by CAST. See news release

A study by Saint Louis University found that a lovable pooch named Sparky and a robotic dog, AIBO, were about equally effective at relieving the loneliness of nursing home residents and fostering attachments. Read more and find links

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