• In-home ethnographies with elders and caregivers in the SF Bay Area and Chicago

• Understand "independence" as a cultural value

• Explain elder care management styles of "deny," "manage," and "depend"

• See each situation of care delivery as a fluid totality of people, assumptions, social relations, actions, tools, and information

• Recognize that elder care is both multi-dimensional and holistic at the same time

When I’m 64

Baby boomers, a demographic “pig in the python,” have been creating ripples since day one. Reaching the last third of their lives, they are re-defining what it means to be “old” and their needs are reshaping the health care industry. Many companies, including Intel, see dramatically expanding opportunity brought about by the aging of the boomers. Through thirty ethnographic interviews in a sample of sixteen different care situations in the U.S., we studied the culture and sociology of elder care. We discovered that the high value placed on “independence” engenders tension between emotional and rational approaches to the practical problems of elder care. Understanding this dynamic, and recognizing that most elder care is situated inside a social relationship between the care giver and the elder, we uncovered hundreds of needs that formed the basis for Intel to define a range of new product development efforts. By recognizing several different styles of care management, we offered strategies for further targeting new product development.