Student Led | Technology Based | Service To Seniors
Connectivity Tools |
Scam Prevention |
Self-Care Education |
Message from Co-Founder & Head of GTL Outreach Program – Aaron Zhao
"With the continued advances in technology and medicine human beings are now living longer than ever. The so-called ‘Grey Tsunami ‘ will see the number of Americans aged 65 or older to nearly double in the next four decades, from 52 million to 95 million. The overall share of seniors in the population will also rise from 16% to 23% and for the first time in US history, the number of elderly adults will outnumber children. Many parts of the country, particularly the rural Midwest, are especially vulnerable to this demographic shift in population, fueled by greater numbers of young people leaving for the larger cities and coastal areas.
With these developments, society is facing monumental challenges in providing care for this aging population. More and more elderly people are living alone, constituting anywhere from a quarter to a half of the population of those over 65. As demand for senior care homes increases, governments are encouraging seniors to live in their own home for as long as possible with home assist programs and the increasing use of technology to assist with care functions from a far. These issues are exasperated by the fact that Alzheimer’s and Dementia are also on the rise with the number of Americans living with Alzheimer’s, projected to double from 5.8 million today to 13.8 million by 2050.
But there is still time to adjust to these new realities as we develop solutions to these mounting problems. With this in mind, we wanted to reach out and begin to solve real issues effecting the elderly community.
We started by tackling issues of loneliness and online fraud, issues that were especially prevalent among the elderly. Through extensive outreach programs , we taught many seniors how to identify and circumvent online fraud as well as how to connect to family and other seniors through the internet.
Our outreach efforts culminated in the realization that we should try to find some areas where technology could really benefit the elderly community as a whole.. Every year more than 3 million Americans are afflicted with a needlessly nasty illness called Atopic dermatitis, or more commonly known as diaper rash,. This is especially problematic for elderly individuals as they may not be aware that they need a change. This led us to developing the Multi-Function IOT Diaper. Apart from remotely detecting when a diaper needs to be changed via an App, other functionalities include fall alarm, humidity sensors, body temperature sensor and pedometer; with future potential modular additions such as heart rate and blood pressure sensors as well as other biometrics. The overall aim is to drastically improve the quality of life of both the caregiver and the patient as well as save money in the long run.
We believe that if we combine advanced technology with personal care, we can improve the lives of a great number of seniors today.
Update: COVID-19
In light of recent events, we want to give our support to all of the people working in healthcare on the frontlines of the pandemic. We also recognize that the most vulnerable populations to this pandemic are the immunocompromised, particularly the elderly. As a member of this society, we feel it is our duty to contribute in whatever way we can. To that end, we have made large donations of masks to local nursing homes to protect our elderly and hopefully help stem the tide of the pandemic.
Stay strong, and together we will weather this storm and emerge stronger than ever."
Aaron Zhao, Co-founder & Head of GTL Community Outreach Program
Aaron Zhao is a student at Harvard-Westlake school in Los Angeles, California. He has been involved in senior care projects for many years. He is currently working on developing a multi-function IOT diaper and researching MOFs as a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease as an extension of a previous project of MOFs as a potential treatment for pancreatic cancer. Aaron has won numerous awards at national Olympiads for Math, Biology and Chemistry. He is also a winner at the regional ISEF for Chemistry.