Jun 18, 2019
In 1900 the average American lived to age 47, today this average has increased over 30 years to 79. By 2050 21% of the US population will be over 65 and this aging trend is worldwide. Yet, outside of sleeker looking adult diapers and products that help people when they fall and can’t get up, consumer product companies have largely ignored this cohort even though their spending power is $8 trillion dollars in the United States alone.
Joseph F. Coughlin is the Founder and Director of the MIT AgeLab, which for the past twenty years has focused on creating new ideas, products and services that help people live fully productive and engaged lives as they age. Joseph also recently published the highly acclaimed “The Longevity Economy: Unlocking the World’s Fastest Growing, Most Misunderstood Market”, which explores the insights on aging and the business opportunities that he and his team have discovered since the AgeLab was founded in 2009.
In this podcast Luminaries editor Kay Corry Aubrey sat and talked with Joseph, to learn more about his work and ideas as well as the innovative techniques he and his team use to learn from older people around the world.