“Aging begins the moment we are born.”
This is the profound opening statement one finds on the webpage of Alice Bonner, Secretary of the Massachusetts office of Elder Affairs.
When you consider aging an event of a lifetime—for you and every other member of humanity—you develop a thoughtful and creative attitude toward it. You treat it, in a way, like a continuous innovation project. Fact is, our bodies and minds do iterate themselves, incessantly. Being healthy, happy, and well requires, of course, a lifetime of attention, the proper mindset, and sometimes the help and support of other people—various sorts of interventions.
On this, the 17th installment of The Resonance Test, we dig deep into the innovations around aging and digital health. Joining Secretary Bonner for an invigorating discussion is Laurance Stuntz, the Director of the Massachusetts eHealth Institute at MassTech, and Continuum’s SVP, Mike Dunkley. Tune in, and hear Secretary Bonner and Stuntz remark:
• “Aging is not about old people; it’s about families and communities.” —Secretary Bonner
• “Humans are good at empathy, about caring, about so on; technology is really bad at that generally.”—Laurance Stuntz
• “If we don’t get people to start thinking about aging and longevity as a lifespan event, starting at the time that we’re born, then we miss the opportunity for people to, for example, start saving for retirement. Realize how much it takes to save for retirement.” — Secretary Bonner
• “Figure out where the cost is, and then follow that to a viable business model.” —Laurance Stuntz
• “People want to get older and stay and continue to live in the community that’s home for them.” —Secretary Bonner
Host: Pete Chapin
Editor: Kyp Pilalas
Producer: Ken Gordon
About the Author
Mike DunkleyHead of HealthcareMike leads EPAM Continuum’s medical devices business and is inspired by the opportunity to deliver better healthcare experiences. He’s passionate about understanding client needs and translating them into successful collaborations.
Mike joined EPAM Continuum in May of 2012. He has worked in commercial, project management, and technical roles on numerous multi-disciplinary projects within the medical, consumer, and energy sectors. His experience spans initial project orientation through to product commercialization.
Previously, Mike held various upper-management roles at Cambridge Consultants and worked as VP of Engineering at Cambridge-based start-up Pronutria. He earned a BA and Ph.D. in engineering from the University of Cambridge, U.K.
Ken GordonChief Communications SpecialistKen makes EPAM Continuum’s work visible to the necessary people. He creates superlative content, works with colleagues to do the same, and employs social networks to share it widely.
A card-carrying humanist, Ken co-founded QuickMuse, the improvisational writing website, and JEDLAB, the Jewish education community. He has written for TheAtlantic.com, the New York Times, and many other pubs.
Ken has an English degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and an MA in English from the State University of New York at Albany. He framed both diplomas long ago, but can’t seem to find them now—a fact he considers all-too-human.
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