You’ll never solve a big problem with small thinking!
— Jim Carroll
Original 2021 statement: Technology oriented seniors community care is a ‘next big thing’ - and will come just in time to deal with a massive flood of Alzheimer’s’ patients
What Jim has written about this
From “Daily Inspiration: “You’ll never solve a big problem with small thinking!”” (October 2021)
Going forward, one of the most significant challenges of our time will have to do with senior care. With that in mind, big thinking was the core of my message on stage six years ago (yesterday) for two back-to-back talks in Nashville for senior executives from the North American assisted living and seniors care industry. I was booked by the American Healthcare Organization and the Centre for Assisted Living and took a look at the opportunities that come from innovative thinking in dealing with one of society’s most intractable challenges.
Big thinking? Watch my comments in the video below — recorded in front of 3,000 people at the annual National Recreation and Parks Association annual conference in Salt Lake City in 2009. Could we really be headed to a world in which we are going to utilize a lot of technology and innovation to help us deal with a very real and significant challenge - that is, dealing with the tsunami of caregiving that will be required in the world of seniors care?
I truly believe that we live in a period of great transformation and that people must challenge themselves to think boldly when it comes to innovation. Hence, the innovation opportunity comes from “thinking big” - accelerating our efforts with community care, aging-in-place technology, the acceleration of medical brain research and science, and so much more.
From “Keynote: DSSI Annual Forum, San Antonio – Innovation in Seniors Care and the Future of Aging” (February 2011)
Jim Carroll delivered the keynote address at the DSSI Annual Forum in San Antonio, Texas in February 2011, speaking to one of the largest gatherings of seniors care operators in the United States on the bold innovation needed to address the coming explosion of the aging population and the Alzheimer’s care crisis. The talk drew on sobering statistics — the number of Alzheimer’s patients projected to triple to 16 million by 2050, with treatment costs rising from $172 billion annually to over $1 trillion — and challenged the seniors care industry to lead the transformation of their sector rather than waiting for it to be imposed from outside. Carroll explored emerging innovations from therapeutic robots like Paro to backyard care units like MedCottage, arguing that the shift from institutional nursing home care to technology-enabled home care models would reshape every aspect of how America cared for its elderly. The talk carried particular personal resonance for Carroll, whose own family was navigating the Alzheimer’s journey at the time — a context that brought unusual emotional depth to an already powerful strategic message.
From “The future of seniors care / assisted living - big trends, or crazy ideas?” (February 2011)
Could we really be headed to a world in which we are going to utilize a lot of technology and innovation to help us deal with a very real and significant challenge - that is, dealing with the tsunami of care-giving that will be required in the world of seniors care?
So let’s think about the scope of the problem. We all know that in Western nations and mature Asian countries, the seniors care challenge is massive . And with longer life expectancy, we are dealing with a reality in which the challenge of Alzheimer’s care for these seniors will go on for much longer periods of time.
My first reaction was, “that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” I was thinking in the context of what my wife was going through; dealing with someone with Alzheimer’s involves a tremendous amount of love, care, time, and emotional commitment.
Read the full pieces on jimcarroll.com:
Daily Inspiration: “You’ll never solve a big problem with small thinking!”
Keynote: DSSI Annual Forum, San Antonio – Innovation in Seniors Care and the Future of Aging
The future of seniors care / assisted living - big trends, or crazy ideas?