Beneficial Technology for Your Elderly Loved One
January 20, 2020
Are you taking care of a loved one who has dementia or Alzheimer’s disease? If so, you know there can be many challenges to deal with. The good news is there are many applications and other pieces of technology that can benefit your elderly loved one. Knowing more about these options can best help you to assist your loved one.
Smart Watches
There are smartwatches that lock onto one’s wrist. These are great for elderly adults who have dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. If your loved one wanders, having a smartwatch attached to their wrist, with GPS capabilities, can help you to track them if they wander away. These smartwatches have helped to track down many other elderly adults. They can be beneficial for your loved one, as well.
Smart Sole Insert
The smart sole inserts are put into your elderly loved one’s shoe and never thought about. You can set up notifications if your loved one leaves a certain location or radius. If your loved one does leave the location you have set up, the smart sole insert will send a text message or email notifications to your or the elder care providers. If you ever need to track your loved one’s location, the GPS technology in these inserts will help you to do that. The only problem with these is you will need one to fit in all your loved one’s pair of shoes. In some instances, they may wander away without wearing their shoes. In that case, these wouldn’t work.
Smartphone Medication Apps
Many elderly adults are on a host of different medications. Alone they might never remember what medications to take and when. You and their elder care providers can help them with this. However, if they are on a lot of medications, it may even be difficult for you to remember what they need to take and when, as well. The good news is there are many applications for smartphones or tablets that can help you to track their medications. These apps will send reminders for when your loved one needs to take the medication and what medication they need to take. These applications help to prevent overdose or misuse of medications.
These are some of the best pieces of technology that could benefit your elderly loved one. If you don’t have any of these things yet, now is the time to get them. If you get a smartwatch, get one that locks onto their wrist, so they can’t take it off. If you get the smart sole inserts, make sure you get them for all their shoes. Lastly, if you get smartphone medication apps, be sure they will track and send reminders for all your loved one’s medications.
If you or your loved one is looking for Elder Care in Saratoga, CA, please call Familiar Surroundings Home Care.
Santa Clara County: (408) 979-9990
San Mateo County: (650) 353-9777
Santa Cruz County: (831) 480-3990
Sources
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Emerging-Tech-to-Support-Aging-2019.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK97353/