September 11, 2019
It doesn’t matter if you’re attempting to tune a guitar, study a new language, or simply add cats’ ears to a selfie, there is an app for that! And for older adults who want to age in place, technology can be an essential component in increasing safety, comfort, and overall quality of life.
Take Amazon’s Alexa, for example. Whereas its current benefits for seniors are many, such as the ability to track sugar levels, make medical appointments, and research information related to a specific health issue, it’s actually poised to delve even further into the health care arena – perhaps even detecting heart attacks and helping physicians get precise diagnoses.
Here are several additional technology solutions for seniors you should consider for an elder loved one you adore:
- Home Security: A motion-detecting home security system offers peace of mind related to crime prevention, but frequently can perform so much more, such as alerting when sensing smoke, broken glass, or temperatues in the home that are way too high or low, simply to name a few. They’re also good for those diagnosed with dementia who might be at risk of wandering, to alert to an older adult’s movements close to the home.
- Telehealth: Save a visit to the physician’s office with the use of one of many different apps that permit remote consultations from board-certified physicians, psychologists, and psychiatrists, several of whom are available 24 hours a day, seven days per week.
- Fall Prevention: One of several leading contributors to senior falls is deficient lighting. Smart lights use motion detection to boost lighting in areas of particular concern, such as between the bedroom and bathroom, or on outdoor walkways, when set off by a person’s movement.
- Fraud Protection: Con artists targeting seniors are persistent and regularly evolving their approaches. Older adults can enhance protection through apps that check financial activity and neighborhood crime activity, reduce robocalls, identify any usage of a person’s Social Security number, and more.
- Health Care: A plethora of health care needs are able to be met from the comfort of home, such as video chats with physicians to avoid a visit to the office, prescription ordering, and medication management to ensure meds are used at the proper times as well as in the proper doses.
Contact Continuum, top providers of assisted home care St. Louis and the surrounding area trusts, for additional recommendations on enhancing life at home for seniors – whether via technology, our professional in-home care assistance, or both! We are always available to help set up and explain technological options, and to provide the tried-and-true, hands-on assistance in the home that enables senior parents to age in place. Contact us now at (314) 863-9912 or (636) 861-3336 for an in-home consultation and let us know more about how we can help you!