Washington – A new study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been awarded to the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago, in partnership with the Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST) and Institute for the Future of Aging Services.
The Aging Services Technologies (ASTs) Study will examine the value of ASTs; barriers to development, innovation, and adoption; and other countries’ experience with ASTs. The study will produce a report that is expected to discuss strategies to encourage innovation in this field and remove existing development and adoption barriers. The study, mandated in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, is being administered by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at HHS.
CAST Chairman Mark McClellan, M.D., PhD, noted the importance of the study to effectively implementing health care reforms. “CAST is leading efforts to promote the development, evaluation, and adoption of emerging technologies that can improve the aging experience. Together, CAST and NORC are well positioned to successfully carry out this study, which will provide information to help us take the right steps to improve care for older adults,” said McClellan, who also serves as director of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform and Leonard D. Schaeffer Chair of Health Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution.
“Unlike previous reports, this study will cover a broad range of ASTs, including health information technology (IT), telehealth and assistive technologies that are relevant to the elderly and those living with disabilities,” said Kristina Hanson Lowell, PhD, senior research scientist at NORC and a co-director of the study. “CAST brings significant experience in aging services technologies and a great understanding of aging services issues in the current policy environment. We could not find a better project partner than CAST to complement NORC’s expertise in health IT and long-term care.”
“This study will also look at what other countries are doing in ASTs and will examine innovations in the development and utilization of these technologies,” said Majd Alwan, PhD, director of CAST and a co-director of the study. “We will have an opportunity to learn from others’ experiences to inform policymaking here on innovation models that offer the most promise for maximizing the societal benefits of technology-enabled care.”
The mission of CAST – which is comprised of more than 400 technology companies, aging-services organizations, businesses, research universities, and government representatives – is to unleash the potential of technology for innovative development across the continuum of health care, housing and services for the aging. The Institute for the Future of Aging Services (IFAS) is an independent research organization dedicated to bridging the worlds of policy, practice and research to advance the development and diffusion of high-quality aging and long-term care services and supports. CAST and IFAS are both based at the American Association for Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA), a member organization centered on advancing a new and better system of long-term care and services for America’s seniors.
“This study has significant implications on the future of the aging services sector,” said Larry Minnix, CEO of AAHSA. “We have been waiting for such a comprehensive evaluation of aging services technologies for years; we are glad to move forward and excited to work on this important effort with NORC and HHS.”
NORC, known since its founding in 1941 as the National Opinion Research Center, has headquarters on the University of Chicago's campus, and offices in Chicago's downtown Loop, Washington, DC, Bethesda, Maryland, and Berkeley, California, as well as a field staff that operates nationwide. NORC's clients include government agencies, educational institutions, foundations, other nonprofit organizations, and private corporations.
Learn more about the organizations involved in the study on the following websites: CAST, IFAS, LeadingAge, NORC.