From Tech/Fast Company 11/12/2024
From fall detection devices to cameras, here’s what you need to care for your
older loved ones.
Most of us wish our parents would live as long as humanly possible, but some
challenges arise if our wishes come true. While every individual is different,
advanced aging usually brings about mobility issues and increased risk from
things that may not have impacted us too much when we were younger, such
as minor falls. The older a person gets, the more likely they will need care
around the house and require more frequent observation.
Yet even though we may want to be there at all times, making sure they
are okay, the simple fact is that work, other family commitments, and
distance can limit our ability to provide care. Thankfully, while not at all a
replacement for personal attention, there are now several pieces of
everyday tech you can use to help make sure your aging parents are
staying safe while also making their everyday lives more manageable in
the process.
Smartwatches with fall detection, like the Apple Watch
As someone with an aging parent, the biggest thing I worry about is them
having a fall. When we’re younger, tripping over a rug might just cause
bruising and minor embarrassment. For an older person, the same
accident can have devastating consequences—broken bones or even
death. A 2023 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report found
that unintentional falls are the leading cause of injury-related deaths of
adults 65 or older. In 2021 alone, 39,000 older adults in America died due
to falls. That’s more than 106 fall-related deaths each day.This is why I got my mom an Apple Watch. All Apple Watches have built-in
fall detection. If a person stumbles, the Apple Watch can detect this, text
all their emergency contacts, and call 911. Should your aging loved one
fall, even alone, others will know they need help nearly instantly.
Recent Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel watches, as well as other
activity trackers, also offer fall detection.
Indoor security cameras like Ring
A security camera is probably the next best gadget for monitoring aging
parents. Of course, this comes with privacy issues, and it’s critical to get
your parents’ consent before you install one in their home.
What is particularly nice about many home security cameras, such as
Amazon’s Ring system, is that they feature motion detection. If you can’t
reach your parent, a camera’s motion alert can reveal where they were
last seen. While it’s understandable that people may not want cameras
surveilling them in every room of the house, it is worth talking with your
parent to see if they would be willing to have cameras pointing at areas of
particular risk—such as the bottom of a staircase or the driveway, where
they are more likely to stumble and fall.
Item trackers like AirTags
Some people’s minds stay sharp their entire lives, but others may become
more forgetful. If you find a parent telling you they always forget where
they leave their keys or wallet, an item tracker, like Apple’s AirTag, is a
nice, cheap gadget that could really help.
Item trackers can easily be attached to keys, purses, and remote controls.
To locate an item, the user simply has to open the tracking app on their
phone.
Smart plugs for lights and appliances
I once had a friend complain to me that whenever she went to her father’s
house, she would find nearly every light on, whether it was 10 a.m. or 2a.m. When she asked her father why, he said it was too much of a pain to
go around the house turning them on and off every day (her father had
mobility issues).
Leaving lights on around the clock can lead to electrical safety issues,
though, not to mention increased energy costs. So my friend went out and
bought smart plugs for nearly every lamp in her father’s house. A smart
plug is a small adapter that plugs into an outlet. When you plug a lamp
into it (or any other electrical device), you can turn it on or off via a simple
tap in the associated smartphone app. They can be found on Amazon and
in home improvement retailers like Home Depot.
My friend showed her father how to use the app, and the next time she
visited, she says only the lights he needed were on. She even put a smart
plug on his toaster oven so he could turn it off from the couch if he forgot
to do so after cooking his meal.
Smart speakers like HomePods and Echos
A final gadget that can really help an aging parent around the house is a
smart speaker, like Apple’s HomePod or Amazon’s Echo. Smart speakers
are a repository of information that can be accessed using just your voice,
and they can also help control other connected gadgets without having to
get up.
For example, if you wirelessly connect your smart plugs to a smart
speaker system, your parent can tell Alexa or Siri to turn on the lights in
the dining room. Connecting smart plugs to a smart speaker system is
usually as simple as scanning a QR code on the smart device with a
phone’s camera, and once you’ve set it up, your parents won’t have to
mess with connecting them again. The resulting voice control ability may
be a better option than app-based controls for some people, especially if
they find using a smartphone app cumbersome.
Smart speakers can also make it easier for aging parents to contact you
or others should they want to talk or need help. For example, users can
instruct a HomePod to text someone or even initiate a FaceTime audio
call. If your parent has fallen and can’t get up, a smart speaker may allow
them to use their voice to call for outside help.