This post is sponsored by Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation.
An exciting partnership, being led by Mayo’s Center for Innovation and Mayo Clinic’s Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging, is driving the challenge to answer one of the most pressing questions of our time, “How might we all maintain well-being and thrive as we age?”
This initiative reaches out to the global community to share their understanding, perspectives, and experiences about the aging process. The most promising ideas will be presented and further developed into new solutions.
An interactive online tool, OpenIDEO is being used to gather information and “crowdsource” the best ideas. Physicians and lay people from around the world are encouraged to be part of this vitally important enterprise to examine and share information about every aspect of aging: transitions, retirement, caregiving, housing, activity and physical changes, relationships– in order to produce what may be an entirely re-envisioned picture of what getting older might look like in the future. OpenIDEO makes it possible for users to comment, support, and build on the concepts posted by others.
Currently in its second “Idea” phase, OpenIDEO has already posted concepts like G(RENT)Parents, in which parents with young children and no immediate family nearby would be connected with skilled seniors who are willing to serve as surrogate grandparents when asked. Another concept, Rock Till You Drop, suggests developing small living communities designed especially for those over 55 who share a passion for music.
Aging, and the issues most often associated with it, has been a critical concern to law makers, health care providers, and families as the population of those over 60 is exploding, and their needs threaten to overwhelm the current systems for their care. The project looks for ways to help all people prepare for every phase of their life–including old age–beginning when they are still young, and to discover how what they do at earlier ages might have a profound effect on the quality of their life as they get older.
The input from this collaborative, international discussion will broaden the understanding of the topic and result in new solutions that could mitigate some of the physical, emotional and financial challenges that have traditionally been assumed to be inevitable as people get older.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
The culmination of this summer-long project will be at the Transform Symposium, Sept. 8-10, 2013, when team members from IDEO and proponents of several ideas will be hosting a recap and workshop session on Tuesday, Sept. 10, during the “Digging In” breakouts. Register today for Transform 2013.
