skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Monday, March 18, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Iowans Challenge Aging with Ingenuity

play audio
Play

Thursday, March 16, 2017   

DES MOINES, Iowa – Growing older does not hold the same connotations as it once did, and some Iowans are using their ingenuity to challenge perceptions of aging.

On Thursday, finalists in the Disrupt Aging Innovation Concept Challenge will present their ideas for a product or service that can positively impact the lives of those age 50 and older.

Jeffrey Makowka, market innovation director for AARP, says it's important that older adults are able to live life on their own terms.

"As the demographics within the United States move toward larger populations of people being older, there will be some certain circumstances and needs that have to be met and other opportunities for people to optimize their happiness and their healthiness,” he points out. “Innovation is a great way for those gaps to be closed and for people to live better lives."

Much like contestants in the popular television show "Shark Tank," finalists will present a 10-minute pitch to judges and an audience Thursday at the Edgewater senior living center in West Des Moines.

Some of the ideas include a monitor to ensure a stove is not left running unattended and a platform to fight depression through tablets that display art.

Makowka says AARP is working around the country with entrepreneurs and students to increase innovation that will eliminate generational barriers, increase social integration and improve the livability of the community for aging adults. He says some of the best ideas are born close to home.

"We tend to focus on the coasts, thinking that innovation happens in New York or Boston or San Francisco,” he states. “But for innovation to really be impactful you have to be close, know and be empathetic with your users, and that has to happen at the local level. We're very excited to see this pop up in Iowa."

The Disrupt Aging Innovation Concept Challenge is the combined effort of AARP, Des Moines Area Community College, Edgewater senior living and Aging Resources of Central Iowa.

Contestants are competing for cash and educational prizes.





get more stories like this via email

more stories
Corporate partners sign contracts to offer a graduate assistantship and pay the students. In turn, MSU pays the graduate assistant's tuition, fees and salary, so the assistantship is directly tied to the academic experience. (pressmaster/Adobe Stock)

play sound

By Victoria Lim for WorkingNation.Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi for Missouri News Service reporting for the WorkingNation-Public News Service Col…


Social Issues

play sound

A new report brands Connecticut's tax system as "regressive" for low- to middle-income residents and uses a report from the state to make its point…

Environment

play sound

Backers of a new federal rule said it will increase fairness for livestock and poultry producers, in North Carolina and across the country. The U.S…


A study by the advocacy group Inseparable showed one in five adults said at any given time, they consider their mental health to be either 'fair' or 'poor.' (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Mental health care advocates are encouraging federal agencies to adopt a proposed update to regulations which would expand access to psychological car…

Social Issues

play sound

With hotter summers bringing hotter working conditions, the Maryland Department of Labor is implementing a heat stress standard to protect workers …

Social Issues

play sound

By Jimmy Cloutier for OpenSecrets.Broadcast version by Roz Brown for Texas News Service reporting for the OpenSecrets-Public News Service Collaboratio…

Environment

play sound

Recreational fishermen in New England say commercial trawlers are threatening the survival of smaller businesses relying on a healthy stock of Atlanti…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021