How Technology Can Help Keep Elderly Relatives Safe

Help an Elderly Relative-Chispa Magazine
When your loved ones reach a certain age, your main concern is how best to keep them safe and healthy. While you are juggling work and other family commitments, you cannot devote as much time as you need and would like to; however, you can use technology to assist you. So, before you continue having guilt-riddled thoughts about your caring shortcomings, read on to see how technology can help keep elderly relatives safe.

Medical alert system
You will be more than familiar with stories about how seniors have died because they were unable to call for help when they needed it. Often treatable medical complications have become fatal due to the lack of early assistance. A medical alert system is one of your loved one being able to contact help as and when they need it.

How to choose a medical alert system

The system that you use should be chosen in accordance with the senior’s lifestyle and personal circumstances. For example, if you choose a system that only covers the home, if your loved one tends to roam away from the house, the system will not be best suited to the circumstance. It would be more relevant to choose a system that is GPS enabled. Similarly, if your loved one is unable to leave the home, a GPS alert would not be required.

Smart pill bottles
It’s a fact that many people do not respond to the medication for their health conditions because they fail to take their medication as prescribed or even at all. Smart pill bottles are the technological response to this major health concern. A text message can be sent to the senior reminding them to take their medication, sensors confirm when the pill bottle has been opened and closed, and they then need to confirm that they have taken it.

The benefits of the smart pill bottle:

  • Patients are sent a text to remind to take the medicine
  • Patients have to confirm on an app that they have taken it
  • Reminder texts or calls are made if patients don’t respond
  • Information can be shared with caregivers
  • Risk of accidental overdose is minimized because an alert is sent if the bottle is opened when it is not set to

The cons of the smart pill bottle:

  • The patient has to have a smartphone
  • You can’t tell if the pill was taken, only if the bottle was opened and closed

Fitbit
While seniors are not often training for a marathon, a Fitbit can be a useful piece of equipment to give you data about their general health and fitness. Keeping active is an essential aspect of keeping healthy, but you may have anxiety about where they are going and whether they are safe to do so within the limitations of their health. A Fitbit can measure everything from the route, the distance, the heart rate and even sleep quality – it’s a valuable tool to help provide a true picture of their health and capabilities.

Technological innovations can be used to keep elderly relatives safe, whether by alerting help in times of need, reminding them to take medication or providing an accurate and real-time impression of their health.

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Mia Guerra

Mia Guerra

Executive Editor at Chispa Magazine
Executive Editor at Chispa Magazine, Mia Guerra is a writer at heart. Regardless the topic, she loves to investigate, encourage, and ruminate on topics that can make us better people. Aiming to live a Proverbs 31 life, Mia is ecstatic to be following her calling with Chispa. At home she is her husband's sidekick and together they are raising a God-fearing family in Atlanta.

Mia Guerra

Executive Editor at Chispa Magazine, Mia Guerra is a writer at heart. Regardless the topic, she loves to investigate, encourage, and ruminate on topics that can make us better people. Aiming to live a Proverbs 31 life, Mia is ecstatic to be following her calling with Chispa. At home she is her husband's sidekick and together they are raising a God-fearing family in Atlanta.