Joseph Coughlin, director of the AgeLab, speaks with Boston Globe reporter Kay Lazar about his recent study examining how Americans are preparing for their later years. “I’m hoping this is a kick-start moment, to start having people realize that it’s more than money,” says Coughlin. “It is more than my blood pressure and my cholesterol level, and that I need to start thinking about other dimensions.”
Writing for Forbes, Joseph Coughlin, director of the AgeLab spotlights how researchers from the MIT AgeLab and John Hancock developed a new longevity index. The Index aims to change “how we measure, teach, discuss and think about the future of aging,” explains Coughlin. “The Index measures preparedness across eight critical domains that research shows are fundamental to quality of life in older age: health, finance, care, home, daily activities, social connection, community, and life transitions.
Fox Business reporters Daniella Genovese and Eric Revell spotlight a new longevity index developed by researchers from the MIT AgeLab and John Hancock that shows how “U.S. adults are largely underprepared to live well as they age.” Joseph Coughlin, director of the AgeLab, explains that the findings “underscore that taking some small but intentional steps — such as planning for a new hobby, starting a fitness routine or having a conversation about care — can lead to a better future and make a big impact on how we spend our later years."
ABC News reporter Will Reeve spotlights the AGNES, a suit developed by MIT AgeLab researchers in an effort to help wearers experience the effects of aging on the body. “One of the greatest challenges that we’ve uncovered here at the AgeLab and elsewhere is that we really can’t envision our future self,” says Joseph Coughlin, director of the AgeLab. “If everyone could wear AGNES, they would be in better touch with what their future self is, and what I would hope is they would invest in themselves physically [and] cognitively.”
WBZ NewsRadio reporter Emma Friedman visits the MIT AgeLab to get a firsthand look at the body suit AgeLab researchers developed to replicate what aging feels like. The Age Gain Now Empathy System or AGNES suit “mimics the visual capability, motor ability, and strength of people in their 70s and 80s,” Friedman explains. Graduate student Sophia Ashebir notes that “essentially what AGNES is, is a series of equipment that you can put on to gain empathy for and experience what an older version of yourself might be like.”
To get a better sense of the physical and cognitive experience of aging, Wall Street Journal reporter Amy Dockser Marcus donned the MIT AgeLab’s age-simulation suit, called the “Age Gain Now Empathy System” or Agnes for short, and embarked on a number of activities, including shopping at the grocery store, riding the subway, crossing a busy street, and cooking a meal. Dockser Marcus notes that research at the MIT AgeLab is focused on “finding ways to improve life for the elderly,” and noted that the Agnes suit provided a “greater insight into what it is really like to age—and what I could do to prepare.”
Kurt Knutsson of FOX News spotlights how MIT researchers have developed a new mobile robot, dubbed E-BAR, designed to help physically support the elderly and prevent falls at home. “What stands out about E-BAR is how it's designed with real people in mind, not just as a tech gadget,” Knutsson explains. “It's easy to see how something like this could make a big difference for seniors wanting to stay independent without feeling tied down by bulky or uncomfortable devices.”
Dr. Mallika Marshall joins CBS Boston to discuss E-BAR, a new mobile robot developed by MIT researchers to physically support the elderly and prevent them from falling as they move around their homes. Marshall notes that E-BAR could also “lift someone from sitting to standing or vice versa, and catch someone safely by rapidly inflating side airbags if they begin to fall.”
Joseph Coughlin, director of the MIT AgeLab, speaks with Barron’s reporter Megan Leonhardt about the longevity economy, workforce trends, and why he sees opportunities for innovation and growth as the senior population in the U.S. increases. “The future isn’t just about living longer—it is about living better. This gap between traditional aging and modern aspirations creates a white space ripe for investment and innovation,” says Coughlin. “We need to look at what a 100-year life span does to our expectations and behaviors, and probably most important, how government and business are going to innovate around disruptive demographics that don’t fit the story line that has been in place for the past century.”
Boston Magazine reporter Wyndham Lewis spotlights the MIT AgeLab, where researchers are focused on making aging better by studying age-related issues so “products can be modified accordingly for older people, allowing them to do the things they’ve always done." AgeLab Director Joseph Coughlin explains: “MIT is about envisioning and inventing the future. I want the AgeLab to write a new narrative of a 100-year life.” He adds that it’s about “setting the agenda for what 100 good years could be.”
Prof. Jonathan Gruber speaks with Marketplace reporter Elizabeth Trovall about looming labor shortages within the caregiving industry and elder care. “We have no plan for credibly meeting that massive change in the long-term care needs of our population,” says Gruber.
Joseph Coughlin, director of the MIT AgeLab, shares the importance of having conversations about intergenerational family wealth transfers to help avoid disputes in inheritances plans, report Anne Tergesen and Dalvin Brown for The Wall Street Journal. "The only way to avoid causing stress, surprise or anger to people is to have these discussions gradually over time," says Coughlin.
In an article for Forbes, Joseph Coughlin, director of the MIT AgeLab, makes the case that people typically “look at retirement as leaving work, but we don't often think ahead of what else we might be leaving behind.” Coughlin emphasizes that retirees should not “forget to review your social portfolio’s retirement readiness and determine if you have saved and invested adequately in the social assets you will need in life after work.”
Writing for MarketWatch, Joseph Coughlin, director of the MIT AgeLab, examines how the revival of nuclear power could be beneficial for older workers with expertise in the industry. “The myth of older workers taking up space must end in every industry, but in a high-stakes sector such as nuclear power, older workers aren’t taking up space — they are a critical part of the future," writes Coughlin.
Writing for The New York Times, Institute Prof. Daron Acemoglu explores the “three epochal changes poised to reshape the U.S. economy in coming years: an aging population, the rise of artificial intelligence and the rewiring of the global economy.” Acemoglu makes the case that “if handled correctly, these challenges could remake work and deliver much higher productivity, wages and opportunities — something the computer revolution promised and never fulfilled.” He adds: “If we mismanage the moment, they could make good, well-paying jobs scarcer and the economy less dynamic. Our decisions over the next five to 10 years will determine which path we take.”