Partnerships Push Innovation in the Aging Tech Space
•February 12, 2026
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Why It Matters
Engaging seniors early reduces product failure risk and safeguards investment, while robust infrastructure ensures that emerging technologies can be deployed safely and at scale across the senior‑care industry.
Key Takeaways
- •Thrive Center offers hands‑on testing for senior‑care tech
- •Older adults actively engage with modern devices, disproving stereotypes
- •Early user feedback steers entrepreneurs away from costly pivots
- •Data governance and network upgrades are critical for AI adoption
- •Partnerships accelerate scaling of innovative caregiving solutions
Pulse Analysis
The aging population represents one of the fastest‑growing consumer segments, yet many providers still design tech based on outdated assumptions that seniors avoid digital tools. Recent evidence from the LeadingAge conference shows that older adults, many of whom were active during the iPhone launch, readily experiment with smart‑home devices when given a supportive environment. Physical labs like the Thrive Center bridge the gap between developers and end‑users, turning abstract concepts into tangible experiences that reveal usability gaps and adoption barriers.
Collaboration lies at the heart of this ecosystem. CDW Healthcare, Asbury Communities, and the Thrive Alliance pool resources to showcase functional prototypes, collect structured feedback, and accelerate product validation. Entrepreneurs benefit from early insights that can prevent costly redesigns, while senior‑care operators gain vetted solutions that align with resident needs. This partnership model also creates a marketing funnel, granting innovators exposure to a network of potential buyers and investors who value data‑driven proof points.
Beyond user testing, infrastructure readiness is paramount. Senior‑living campuses often house fragmented data sources, creating duplication and limiting AI potential. Implementing data‑governance frameworks, upgrading Wi‑Fi, and reinforcing cybersecurity are essential steps to support connected devices and predictive analytics. As operators modernize their digital backbone, they unlock scalable, sustainable pathways for advanced caregiving technologies, positioning the sector for long‑term growth in an increasingly tech‑centric health landscape.
Partnerships Push Innovation in the Aging Tech Space
A Connecting Theme at the 2025 LeadingAge Annual Meeting: Involving Older Adults in Technology Adoption
A connecting theme during the 2025 LeadingAge Annual Meeting last fall was the importance of involving older adults in the adoption of new technologies that are meant to help with their care. They’re a large, growing market, yet their needs may not be met with newer designs.
“The assumption is that older adults don’t like technology, or that they don’t use it, or that they’re afraid of it, or that they don’t understand it. What we’ve really found is that that’s not the case,” said Michelle Curnow, senior vice president of sales and brand at Asbury Communities, during a conference session.
Liz Cramer, chief post‑acute and senior care strategist at CDW Healthcare, emphasizes that many older adults today could have still been in the workforce when the first iPhone came out — it’s outdated to think that older adults are completely unfamiliar with new tech.
That’s why environments where older adults and other interested parties can explore and test emerging solutions are so valuable in the sector. Louisville, Ky.-based Thrive Center does just that, in an expanded space that reopened last September.
Feedback Is Crucial for Aging Tech Adoption
“The Thrive Center, in partnership with CDW and our Thrive Alliance members, has become a physical destination where technologies can be tested and observed,” says Thrive CEO and Co‑Founder Sheri Rose. “We showcase working technologies in a functional smart home and environment focused on independence and well‑being. Vetting of products can take place to assist consumers and healthcare organizations in their procurement process. Thrive provides marketing exposure to help drive adoption and quality of care. Partners learn from one another — not just about the challenges of adoption but also the innovation failures and successes.”
The organization also collaborated with Bellarmine University’s Veritas Society, a learning group for adults age 50 and older in the Louisville area that has about 450 members, to form a consumer focus group aimed at providing valuable product feedback to entrepreneurs.
“If an older adult is not going to adopt the technology, the entrepreneur may need to pivot or shut down the product. Investment is sacred in the current economy. Entrepreneurs need to be good stewards of investment funding. This early feedback is important,” Rose says.
The focus on innovative solutions for an aging population also works for a disabled population, she adds. “It’s not as much about aging tech as it is tech for caregivers and independence. And not every tech solution works for every stage and transition of care. A solution that works today may not work in a higher acuity of care. Someone with mild cognitive impairment may wear a watch for wandering, but as dementia progresses, the watch will sit on the dresser.”
Cramer adds that having a physical space helps to foster stronger partnerships.
“Sitting in on a virtual meeting with a potential solution, providing a demo via video — it’s just not the same. Having partnerships with an organization like Thrive allows companies like CDW to accelerate innovation and adoption with our customers. That really helps to drive outcomes and then allows us to see if these models are scalable and sustainable,” Cramer says.
A Focus on Improving Infrastructure
Still, the most crucial aspect for senior care organizations to strengthen is infrastructure that can accommodate the new solutions, Rose adds.
That also includes organizing and standardizing the data environment, Cramer says, including setting up a data‑governance framework if organizations are looking to turn the decades of data they have into more actionable insights.
“On a single senior living campus, you’ve got data in a lot of different places, and there’s potentially duplicate data. Getting that cleaned up, that’s going to be a big focus for a lot of operators as we continue to move into more artificial intelligence use cases,” Cramer explains.
And organizations should not neglect networking upgrades and security strategies.
“So many of these products will require internet connectivity and Wi‑Fi. The health of the organization’s infrastructure is paramount to driving innovative solutions,” Rose says. “Same with the home environment. When implementing solutions, evaluation of the infrastructure and buy‑in from the staff and residents will be important for success.”
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