Loneliness & Longevity

2 needs, 1 solution

Katherine Chen / @kchen247

Our parent’s generation is...

Single

Divorced

Widowed

Lonely

Retired

And also…

Inactive

At risk of developing diabetes

Fighting high blood pressure

Developing early signs of dementia

Fighting high cholesterol

Overweight

HOW MIGHT WE HELP THE BABY BOOMER GENERATION FIGHT LONELINESS AND BECOME MORE ACTIVE?

Let’s combine these two needs:

Solution: Exercise together

Who: 55-70 year olds

What: Exercising together

Why: To improve physical longevity AND emotional longevity

All that remains is…how?

Let’s focus on a SPECIFIC behavior to design for.

How might we get “Mary” to sign up for a social group in her neighborhood focused on physical activity?

Hmm…

• Mary sees a sign-up sheet at her local grocery store and signs up

• Mary and her friend talk about it and both sign up together

• Mary is encouraged to sign up by a friend/current member at her weekly book club meeting

• Mary is encouraged to sign up by her doctor during a standard check-up

• Mary’s daughter signs her up

Insights

• Focus on one specific moment – the sign up

• Sign up comes with different levels of commitment: curiosity vs. already sold. Allow people to specify.

• Having someone sign you up (e.g. your child) vs. you signing up may change how you feel about signing up.– Willing to try at the persistence of a family member who

cares about your health

– BUT, more motivated if you make the decision yourself to sign up

Open Qs

• What activities sound the most appealing to the baby boomer generation?– Walking 30 minutes– Tai chi– Dancing (waltz, tango, etc.)– Hiking

• Once you have a list of people signed up, who handles facilitating the meetings? Do we need to design this part too?– One of the participants becomes point person– Point person responsibilities rotate– Facilitated by local elder care or gym organizations

Other ideas?

Share below!

Katherine Chen / @kchen247