Useful Apps Club evaluates senior tech and services

More seniors than ever are using tablets and today’s large-screen smartphones. One senior successful aging non-profit company is launching The Useful Apps Club, a new review group based on the “Book of the Month Club” model to test and evaluate smartphone and tablet apps that can help with getting everyday things done as an older adult.

Tech-enhanced Life, based in Delaware, is a Public Benefit Corporation, a newer corporate designation that combines non-profit status with market-driven initiatives. The company started the club to encourage its online community of older adults and tech lovers, called Longevity Explorers, to test and evaluate various technologies designed to assist with the challenges of growing older.

It’s a bit like a silver Consumer Reports. The group provides user experiences and feedback on popular senior topics, such as how to evaluate a medical alert system, what medication management technologies work best, or how to find a reliable for-hire transport company. Some of the first tools include communications apps, ride-sharing tools and text magnifiers for reading when glasses are not available.

Those who join the club will receive lessons in the technology as well, so the knowledge can be passed on to other family members or friends. The subscription-based club costs $9 per month, after the two-week free trial. Current members of the Longevity Explorers receive a discount.

Tech-enhanced Life was co-founded by Richard Caro, whose basket of accomplishments includes a PhD in physics and 24 patents. “We are hoping this will be a very valuable learning resource for older adults who have a smartphone or tablet and want to learn how to turn it into a more useful tool that can improve their everyday life,” he said in an e-mail about the new club.

Pamela Tabar

Pamela Tabar was editor-in-chief of I Advance Senior Care from 2013-2018. She has worked as a writer and editor for healthcare business media since 1998, including as News Editor of Healthcare Informatics. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Kent State University and a master’s degree in English from the University of York, England.