StartUp Health and AARP collaborate to sponsor the development of educational resources for entrepreneurs as part of the AARP’s Innovation@50+ initiative.
Researchers have stated that the proportion of people in their late 40s to 60s with diabetes, hypertension or obesity has increased over the past two decades. Even worse, the percentage of baby boomers that need a cane or a walker has doubled, as compared with the previous generation. From more knee operations to taking more pills to manage blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes, innovative digital health solutions is essential to the address the burden of baby boomers.
To inspire entrepreneurs to develop innovation solutions for the aging population, AARP and StartUp Health, a long-term academy and network for digital health and wellness entrepreneurs collaborate to develop a customized curriculum focused on digital health solutions for the 50+ market.
AARP will sponsor the development of educational resources for entrepreneurs within StartUp Health Academy, as well as a series of industry research leveraging StartUp Health Insights about early stage innovation focused on digital health solutions for the 50+ market. The sponsorship is part of AARP’s Innovation@50+™ initiative, which aims to spark entrepreneurial activity across public and private sectors.
The Innovation@50+(TM) initiative seeks to spark the innovation and entrepreneurship community by promoting an ethos of unifying principles, such as “design for all.” The curriculum will be integrated witin StartUp Health Academy curriculum via Masterclass Workshops and Expert Office Hours, led by AARP experts and StartUp Health for the entrepreneurs. Additionally, AARP will sponsor StartUp Health’s quarterly industry research reports and make available to innovators trend data and intelligence highlighting health tech solutions for the aging economy.
Jody Holtzman, Senior Vice President of Thought Leadership of AARP, said,
“We are thrilled to be able to work with StartUp Health to develop a world-class curriculum to educate and inspire more health tech entrepreneurs to focus on innovation for the aging population. Together, we will help focus a generation of innovators to think about developing solutions that will improve health and wellness for the 50+ community. Today, tens of millions of people in their 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s are leading longer, healthier, more productive lives. They’re beginning to wake up to this new longevity—and what it means in their lives.”
According to AARP, every day, 10,000 more Baby Boomers join the 50+ demographic, which includes more than 100 million people spending $3.5 trillion a year.
Unity Stoakes, President and Co-founder of StartUp Health, said, “We are honored to work with AARP to provide education and research to entrepreneurs who are hard at work rethinking and reinventing healthcare for the aging population. Through this initiative, we will help inspire the best talent of our time to focus on new ideas that will help this market.”