Longevity summit in Washington spotlights the care economy

The ninth annual What's Next Longevity Innovation Summit will bring leaders, investors and policymakers to Washington, D.C., on Dec. 1-2 to focus on caregiving, longevity and the fast-growing care economy. The event comes as family caregiving, dementia care and AgeTech demand reshape work, healthcare and investment priorities.

Why it matters: - The care economy is emerging as a major growth area across healthcare, work and consumer markets. - The summit is designed to connect capital, policy and innovation around caregiving needs that are expanding as the U.S. population ages. - Caregiving now affects families, workplaces and health systems at scale, making the sector a real investment and policy priority.

What happened: - The ninth annual What's Next Longevity Innovation Summit, titled "The Power of Caring," will be held Dec. 1-2 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. - The event will gather 200 thought leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, healthcare executives, caregivers and policymakers. - Mary Furlong, CEO of Mary Furlong and Associates, is producing the summit. - Jeffrey Cole, director of the University of Southern California's Center for the Digital Future, will open the summit with remarks on disruption and economic change.

The details: - Summit programming will cover caregiving resources, technology, regulation and investment. - The event highlights four figures shaping the market: a $648 billion care economy, 63 million U.S. family caregivers, $6 trillion in consumer spending power among caregiving consumers, and one in five employees caring for an older loved one. - The summit frames the care economy as including both professional care workers and 63 million unpaid family caregivers. - Organizers say the sandwich generation faces urgent demand for specialized dementia care and scalable AgeTech solutions. - Cole's remarks will draw from his book, "Disrupters at the Gate: When Visionaries, Trailblazers, and Two Guys in a Garage Turn the World Upside Down." - Sponsors include AARP and Google's Jigsaw division as platinum sponsors. - Gold sponsors include Childfree Trust, DWEL, Evergreen, GoGo Grandparent, Hibiscus Health, Khyaal, Kubo Care, PainChek, Posit Science, Quiltt and Samsung Health. - Silver sponsors include Able Care, Ageless Innovation, Archstone Foundation, CABHI, CloudMind, GetSetUp, Iridescent Labs, Savi, Senior Proof, SilverShield, Summit Managed Solutions, The Smarter Service, Town Square and Ziegler Link-Age. - More information and registration are available here.

Between the lines: - The summit is positioning caregiving as a mainstream economic category, not just a family or healthcare issue. - The sponsor list suggests strong interest from consumer health, aging tech and service companies seeking a foothold in a rapidly growing market. - The policy and reimbursement focus signals that innovation in caregiving may depend as much on regulation and funding models as on technology.

What's next: - The summit will take place in Washington as federal policy, employer support and private investment continue to shape the future of caregiving. - Organizers expect the event to surface solutions for caregivers and the people they support, with a focus on scale and funding. - Discussions are likely to emphasize how AgeTech and dementia-care tools can move from concept to deployment.