We polled the core members of the SE Futures team for their top recommended gift ideas for keeping the flow going in life, and for seniors or caregivers helping a loved one to maintain or restore health, and age in place.
Marylou Ackerman
VP Innovation Erik Landriault
Director Innovation
Life Hack: Pinterest app has so many great ideas on just about any topic that can be shared. No need to buy decorating magazines, cook books, etc..
Seniors Gift Idea: We are working with behavioural change startup Memotext on developing a Ring of Support, a digital assistant to check in on your loved one, provide reminders, and access to support and resources as needed. Life Hack: Take out eating gets social. Ritual is an app to order food from restaurants geo-located near you. Bonus - you can piggy back on someone else's order and they'll pick it up for you.
Seniors Gift Idea: Hexoskin smart undershirts - a seamless way to track key vitals at home. Big potential for managing cardiac rehab or COPD. Bonus - wear the same undershirt as the astronauts on the international space station.Life Hack: Free audiobooks at the Toronto Library that you can access through your phone. Everywhere you go, you can listen to a great book. Bonus - its free with your (Free) library membership.
Seniors Gift Idea: For the handy-person who does not have room/budget for tools, a membership to the Toronto Tool Library is a great way to access the tools someone could need for home repair, wood work, and other kinds of projects. Life Hack: If anything takes less than 2 minutes to do, just go for it. That way you'll have less on your to-do list!
Seniors Gift Idea: The Google Home Mini, 'hands free help for the holidays". Voice is the interface of the future. With the Home mini's available on discount, now is the time to pick one up. The SE Futures team is doing some exciting stuff with voice + seniors + home this year, so keep your eyes (and ears) open!Life Hack: The Meetup site is a great way to explore new things happening near you. Bonus - oftentimes, the events are free!
Seniors Gift Idea: The Fitbit Alta HR has helped me manage my health - bedtime routines, drink more water, monitor steps, caloric intake, exercise and heart rate. Life Hack: Evernote is the app I used to store and readily access hundreds of different pieces of information for life and work. The notes are across multiple projects, topics and info formats. Bonus - the free version has 90% of the features my paid version offers.
Seniors Gift Idea: At Aging 2.0 I met the company MemoryWell - they can build the story online or in print of your loved one, a great tool for your family to add to the story, and for sharing with myriad service providers who may be coming into the home.
Co-design workshop with seniors and Google SideWalk Labs
On Dec 17 the SE Futures team with the support of Sidewalk Toronto hosted a workshop to re-imagine homes for seniors with over 40 older adult participants. In this half day hands-on workshop we explored the future of senior's housing and community to inform Sidewalk's and SE Health's work and thinking in this space. Seniors who participated played the role of being their own real estate agents as they contemplate what they envision in their future home. Participants considered multiple housing features that were tabled by the SE Futures and Sidewalk teams, to use as negotiating terms when designing where they want to live. We learned a tonne about different trade older adults make when considering housing options.
Many rich discussions emerged, including topics as wide-ranging as autonomous vehicles for transportation, in-home virtual care supports systems, having children living in the residences, and more.
In all, we gained a much deeper understanding of the role that housing plays in supporting seniors to stay healthy in their own homes of choice, and remain engaged in their communities. We can't wait to incorporate the insights gathered to aid us in designing new housing models for seniors to age-in-place.
Spreading Hope & Happiness
With the holiday season fast approaching we are reminded of all that we have and are thankful for, celebrating one year coming to an end and a New Year beginning.
Each year, our foundation arm, Saint Elizabeth Foundation provides funds to staff to make an impact during the holiday season. Hope & Happiness plans were in full swing in December as our SE Futures pooled our funds to improve the lives of those living in our downtown Toronto community. We created care packages for the homeless. We spoke with many local shelters including Covenant House and a local assessment and referral centre to better understand what our homeless population might need. The kits had the following:
Hats
Mitts
Hand Warmers
Granola Bars (nut free)
Socks
Underwear
Starbucks Gift Cards
Christmas Cookies
a King Size Fleece Blankets
We were thrilled that our small gesture had a positive impact on those who received a package. Many smiles and even tears of joy were exchanged during our gift giving.
Calling all EntrepreNurse's
Feeling inspired after watching the video above? Connect with us at SeFutures@sehc.com to find out more information on how to become involved.
Longwoods + SE Health Future of Home Care & Aging Event
SE Health and Longwoods Publishing joined forces on a special Healthcare Rounds event on November 29 focused on Home care and the Future of Aging. Check out the event recap in this video.
Upcoming Events & Happenings
February 13 Digital Health Entrepreneurship event at Rotman co-hosted by Zayna Khayat from 4:30-6:30 pm
