Senior woman using smart speaker while setting in living room at home
What digital resources do caregivers have to support their loved ones? originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
Answer by Lawrence Kosick, President and Co-Founder at GetSetUp, TITLE, on Quora:
This holiday season, caregivers can get their older loved one’s technology to help support them in aging in place and help lighten the caregiving burden. The National Poll on Healthy Aging from the University of Michigan surveyed Older Adults’ Preparedness to Age in Place and found that the majority of adults aged 50-80 (88%) felt it is important to remain in their homes for as long as possible. Now there are lots of tech tools that can help facilitate aging in place and give caregivers peace of mind. Often healthcare providers, veteran services, governments, or communities supporting the aging even offer these for free to their members or residents. Caregivers need only help their loved one get started this holiday season.
Combating Social Isolation
More and more people are turning to virtual means to connect, make friends, learn new skills, and find a sense of purpose. Loneliness and social isolation “increase the risk of premature death from every cause for every race,” according to a 2019 study. How can you help your loved one stay connected?
- Virtual Social Learning Platforms – Allow loved ones to connect with like-minded peers to learn something new and socialize. Communities like GetSetUp are helping people over 50 connect with peers both online and offline to create friendships.
- AI robots – Offer conversation and check-in possibilities like ElliQ to help monitor your loved one.
- Robotic Pets – Offer the companionship of a pet without the burden of additional expenses around food, vet bills, and the responsibility to attend to its needs. Companies like Joy for all have found these are particularly great for dementia patients.
Creating Smart Homes For Health And Wellness
Smart tech can help make people’s homes more age-friendly and offer people ways to help monitor loved ones from afar.
- Motion-detecting devices can allow you to turn lights on and off prior to entering rooms to help prevent falls.
- Smart thermostats and other smart electronics can be connected to apps on one’s phone and help reduce costs by turning off heating and air when no one is home.
- Voice assistants like Echo Dot and Google Nest can remind people to take their medicine and remember medical appointments. They can turn on lights in rooms prior to entering them to prevent falls. These devices can be particularly helpful to people who have mobility limitations, tremors, or other health issues that make it easier to request information from a voice assistant than to type. Plus, they can be pre-set to ensure regular routines.
- Video doorbells and cameras like the Ring and Nest Doorbell can let residents see who is at the door and monitor movements. Cameras can ensure people are following their regular routines when caregivers can’t be there.
- Smart locks like Ultraloq and August can lock doors automatically when people leave, allow select people to come and enter a home without keys, and provide a simple solution to forgotten keys.
Health Tech To Help Monitor Your Health
People can monitor their health with gadgets like smartwatches and monitors. These devices allow medical professionals, loved ones, and patients to monitor health around the clock and have even helped save lives. Some are even available for free or at a reduced cost in select Medicare Advantage plans.
Smartwatches and monitors can track a person’s health by monitoring heart rates, stress levels, sleep, falls, and more. They can be programmed to send alerts to doctors, emergency services, and loved ones if there are complications.
Now that you know a bit about Health Tech and Digital Tools for Caregivers that can help your loved ones; which will you set your loved ones up with this holiday season?
This question originally appeared on Quora – the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
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