Our Focus
| Category | Major “Pain” Points |
| Communication and Engagement | Isolation, Loneliness, Neglect, No/Fewer friends or family |
| Customer convenience | Difficult access to information, Poor reach/access, Lack of organization, Need easier purchase options |
| Mobility and transport | Frailty/Fall risk, Poor ambulation, Bodily limits, No capacity to drive |
| Financial wellness | Little money, Few savings, Restrictive living arrangements, Financial abuse |
| Skill/Knowledge application | No/Little opportunity to work, coach, mentor and volunteer |
| Learning and fun | No/few hobbies/pastimes, Little/No entertainment, No/Low Internet/connectivity, Few educational opportunities |
| Physical health and fitness | One or more disease states/pain, Low fitness levels, Loss or lessening of bodily function, Medication confusion |
| Emotional health and fitness | Cognitive impairment, Dementia, Depression, Low levels of coping/stress |
| Diet, nutrition and sleep | Insufficient food, Poor/Unbalanced diet, Obesity/Anorexia, Insufficient sleep |
| Caregiving/Care receiving | High care to others, Low care for self, No/low support available, No/Low access to caregiving |
In the chart above are 10 categories in which we need to generate many new ideas and innovate more significantly.
The point of this chart is simple. We need much more attention focused on each of these 10 categories, both individually and collectively, and to attract more ideation and entrepreneurship to these areas (not to mention to get them to scale beyond a few local communities in experimental mode). In addition, we need deeper and more careful thinking about these issues and the specific needs (or pain/gain points) of this customer group as they age (they are not one single amorphous mass!). In many cases, the challenges can be so great we can reasonably call them “silver moonshots” and like any “moonshots” we’ll need a lot of resources to be devoted to the task (both from older adults themselves as co-creators) and from younger generations who may have hitherto paid little or no attention to this whole area.
Learn more about how you can get involved as a foundation or strategic partner.
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Silver Moonshots is research based and seeks to surface major Moonshot challenges in the older adult population and then encourage startups and other organizations to commit time and money to come up with solutions that can really scale.
Our efforts are therefore on creating solid base data and then a supportive environment to encourage people’s efforts. This supportive climate will consist mainly of mentoring and coaching-both in person and virtually using advanced communication technology.
Our efforts are to focus on a range of unmet needs, challenges and opportunities that the 50+ adult space offers in 4 major areas: