Tim Kinder, SBDC, kindly provided two market research documents for us. One is the Home Health Care Industry Report and the other is Community Care for the Elderly in the US. I think both of these documents can help you understand and define your potential market.
This site is humorous, if nothing else for the titles of the entries! It's sort of the CAST site on comedy steroids. Check out "click to the loo my darling," and the "going gently into the program."
Tonya told us about the "Jitterbug" phone for the young-old demographic. She sent some sites for you to see more...
http://www.jitterbug.com/Home.aspx
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5hnoxrNb0s
Social Networking Goes Professional
by Jessica E. Vascellaro
Aug 28, 2007
Page: D1
Click here to view the full article on WSJ.com
TOPICS: Social networking, Social Professional Networking
SUMMARY: When radiation oncologist Michael Tomblyn recently saw a 21-year-old patient whose eye was protruding from its socket, he turned to his fellow physicians for help. Dozens of doctors offered suggestions, including fungal infection, HIV-associated lymphoma or a cocaine-associated sinus problem, eventually steering him toward the correct answer: rhabdomyosarcomma, a fast-growing cancer most often observed in young children.
CLASSROOM APPLICATION: This article teaches students that there are several consumer technologies that can be used in obtaining and sharing professional knowledge and information. It also presents students with an opportunity to become entrepreneurial in considering the development of new sites by learning from Daniel Palestrant who launched Sermo.com when he was a surgical resident in Boston. Students could brainstorm the creation of other innovative health care sites.
QUESTIONS:
1.) What is Sermo.com? Visit it. Evaluate your experience.
2.) Define social networking. What are some advantages? Disadvantages?
3.) What are some do's and don'ts for using social-networking sites? Have you ever used a social-networking site? If so, which one(s)? Any more do's and don'ts to recommend?
4.) In addition to social networking, identify and discuss other consumer technologies for crossing over into the corporate world.
5.) How can social-networking sites offer many new services free to members? Present at least two examples.
Reviewed By: Dennis S. Palkon, Ph.D, MPH, MSW, Florida Atlantic University
I fixed up the posting for Assignment 1 in the wiki. The syntax is simple, but very strict. someone overwrote the whole page. This is not a big deal because everything is saved every time you edit the page. So far there are only two people who have made entries here. I added a few extra names so you can see more examples of how you should add your own name when you are ready to post on that particular page.
I strongly recommend that you check out the syntax guideline for the wiki. Its not something you have to study, just browse it for a few minuets so that you are familiar with the possible ways you can set up your posts. The reference will always be there. Check it out here:
http://cgi.cs.indiana.edu/~surg/agingwiki/doku.php?id=wiki:syntax