HomeLab: A real-life testing ground for older-adult products and services by Marilynn Larkin, MA

From home health care to government agencies to senior living, organizations are looking for effective ways to promote health, wellness, quality of life and safety for older adults where they live--whether in family homes in the community or in cottages and apartments on a senior living campus. Products, services and, increasingly, technologies are part of the answer. But to ensure that offerings meet the needs and goals of older adults and organizations today, plus shape future possibilities, the active-aging industry needs to assist those who design, manufacture and supply them. Many Journal on Active Aging readers express a desire to have their organizations participate in research, and so I'm focusing this column on the Georgia Institute of Technology's HomeLab. An initiative of Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), HomeLab brings together an interdisciplinary team of scientists and engineers to do research with older adults. The program is exciting, and expanding, so there's an opportunity to get involved!