Summit Explores Technology, Innovation for Improving Long-Term Care

This spring, Columbia University School of Nursing hosted a two-day gathering of long-term and post-acute care (LTPAC) experts from around the globe, along with policymakers, administrators, clinicians, and researchers, to explore the role of technology in improving care for older people and their caregivers. 

People over 60 will account for 22% of the world’s population by 2050, according to Professor Gregory Alexander, PhD, and Anne Livingstone, director of research and projects at Global Community Resourcing, who co-chaired the International Summit on Innovation and Technology in Care of Older People (IS-ITCOP), held on June 6 and 7, 2024, at the nursing school.  

“With the world’s population aging at an unprecedented rate, we must harness the power of innovation and technology to enhance the quality, safety, and accessibility of care for older people,” they noted in their welcome to IS-ITCOP attendees. 

Dean Lorraine Frazier, PhD, and Professor Alexander provided opening remarks and introduced plenary speaker Liz Palena Hall, RN, acting director, Division of Digital Quality Measurement, Center for Clinical Standards and Quality at Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. 

Over the two-day summit, funded in part by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, attendees explored four key topics, with keynote addresses followed by roundtable discussions: emerging models of care and technology, the workforce of the future, safety and privacy considerations in long-term care (LTC), and transparency and accountability in quality of care in LTC. 

Alexander, Livingstone, and their colleagues are developing white papers on each topic area, as well as a research agenda based on the summit, for publication.