By Joseph F. Coughlin

Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging: What impacts will the Covid-19 pandemic have on development of technologies that enable older adults to connect with their communities and live independently?

Joseph F. Coughlin: By April last year, the nation changed overnight. Work commutes, shopping trips, nights out and visits with friends and family were abruptly halted. We retreated into our homes. Both fear and caution locked us inside.

Suddenly, all of us were part of a nationwide empathy exercise in what many experience daily as an older adult.

We began experiencing future selves with limited transportation and access to the people, places and things we need — let alone to those that make us smile.

Before we shuttered into our homes, we shopped. Stores were stripped of food, cleaning supplies, baking flour, video games, alcohol and — yes — toilet paper. COVID-19 shopping also revealed a new household necessity: technology. In fact, technology became the new toilet paper.

The pandemic has served as a propellant accelerating the adoption of devices perhaps a decade faster than might have otherwise occurred.

My MIT AgeLab colleagues are conducting a series of surveys throughout the pandemic to understand changes in public attitudes and behaviors. While people have reported stocking freezers with their favorite ice cream, they also reported purchasing new home technologies. This was not just to binge-watch endless shows until the pandemic passed. Technologies also improved connectivity between themselves and others, as well as smart safety and security products to manage their homes.

The pandemic has served as a propellant accelerating the adoption of devices and related services perhaps a decade faster than might have otherwise occurred.

What positive trends has the pandemic accelerated? Are there any negative ones? While difficult to believe, the pandemic has produced some benefits.

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