ACCESS Health China Co Organizes Fourth National Innovation for the Elderly Competition

ACCESS Health China recently co organized the Fourth National Innovation for the Elderly Competition. This was  the second time ACCESS Health participated in the competition. This year, ACCESS Health participated in the recruitment process for new projects, designing the training program, offering training, judging the semifinal completion, and conducting research on global trends in aging innovations. Winners from the competition will join the Shanghai Aging Innovation Alliance and will receive exclusive business development support and networking support from the alliance. Members of the Shanghai Aging Innovation Alliance automatically become members of the Modern Aging Innovator Alliance.

The National Innovation for the Elderly Competition is a yearly competition endorsed by several aging related government departments in Shanghai. The goal of the competition is to enhance the public’s awareness of innovation in the aging sector by recruiting and supporting best practices and ideas from China. Winners of the competition will receive a wide range of resources and support, including investment opportunities, media exposure, training, strategic advice, and implementation support. The competition invites senior citizens to meet with the innovators. The older participants act as end users and provide user testing feedback and comments on the innovative services and products. ACCESS Health China first co organized the event in 2016. This year the theme of the competition is Science and Technology Design on the Aging Challenges. The competition has thus far attracted more than five hundred projects. More than eighty percent of the winners successfully reached their fundraising goals.

About the Shanghai Aging Innovation Alliance

ACCESS Health China launched the Shanghai Aging Innovation Alliance in collaboration with the Shanghai Technology for the Elderly Center. Cathie Liu, program director of ACCESS Health China, serves as the deputy secretary of the alliance. Winners of the National Innovation for the Elderly Competition make up a key part of alliance membership. The alliance offers members high quality resources in the industry, access to exclusive events and networking opportunities, and media exposure through various channels. By gathering the most outstanding innovators in the aging sector, we work together to build a new ecosystem for aging innovations. The top ten winners of the competition since its inception were the first members to be invited to join the alliance.

Training Session

On November 19, 2017, ACCESS Health China, in collaboration with TusStar Shanghai, organized a training session for all semifinalists in the Fourth Innovation for the Elderly Competition. The goal of the training session was to improve the performance of the innovators in the next stage of the competition. ACCESS Health invited three mentors and ten representatives of senior citizens to offer comments and suggestions to the topics including presentation content and skills, services and products, and development strategies. It enabled the innovators to improve their efficiency in communicating with both judges and end users, as well as to have a brighter understanding of their future development.

Semifinals

On November 20, the semifinals of the Fourth National for the Elderly Competition took place at Shanghai Media Group. The semifinal was recorded and broadcast through radio channel FM 89.9 to the entire city. Linguo Li, operations director of ACCESS Health China, joined the team of judges and provided insightful comments on the projects. Due to the large number of radio listeners, the competition attracted great attention by the public on aging and innovation. It also gave the innovators remarkable exposure to the public to promote their products and ideas.

Presenting the State of Innovation in Aging and Senior Care: Trends and Lessons

The Modern Aging China team and the ACCESS Health China research team had written an industrial report of The State of Innovation in Aging and Senior Care: Trends and Lessons which was officially launched at the finals of the competition. Cathie Liu, program director of ACCESS Health China and deputy secretary of Shanghai Aging Innovation Alliance, presented the report at the finals which took place on November 28, 2017. The report reveals the challenges and solutions of the demographic shift in China and around the globe. The report introduces global trends in aging innovation in five sectors reacted to the challenges mentioned above, including health management, care and rehabilitation, independence and safety, mobility and convenience, and mental vitality and life style. In each sector, the report highlights the key facts within the sector and presents both domestic and global successful innovative models. The report also features the top ten winners of the competition in these five sectors and looks forward to the future opportunities.