Recently, it was announced that Amazon will be launching a project called Care Hub. This product is geared toward helping families take care of an elderly loved one even when they are quite a distance away from one another.
The Care Hub is designed to enhance safety. If the smart technology hears that there is a problem, it will automatically call emergency services. The phrase, “Alexa, call for help,” will automatically send out an emergency call through the home’s internet connection. If someone falls and is unable to move to get to a phone, this is a great way to get help immediately, much like Life Alert type systems did in the past. This is a big upgrade from the previous generation of smart systems, like Amazon Echo–which had emergency calls disabled.
Care Hub also allows select family members or friends to view the owner’s activity. So, if someone logs in and sees that there has been no motion detected in the house for 12 hours, an outside source can call emergency crews to come in and check on the senior to see if help is needed. And if the person does not interact with the AI system by a certain time each day, an alert can be sent out to people listed on that person’s call list. The device will also allow seniors to call friends, family, or neighbors as they desire. There is a good deal of activities and preferences that can be customized on the device so that it better suits the needs of the individual that is using it.
The device is still in pre-order and not yet available to the general public. If this does sound like something that you think your family will benefit from, it is definitely worth heading over to the Amazon site and learning more about it. You can access information material for the product here.
In the meantime, if you have questions about senior care, we’re here to help. We offer free consultations that allow you to speak with a professional caregiver and go over your family’s unique situation. We can help you identify areas of need when it comes to care and help you figure out how to meet those needs. We can also help with recommendations when it comes to accessing professional care. While we are definitely big fans of in-home care, we also know that this isn’t the only type of care out there. Our goal is to get you pointed toward the resources that will help you the most. That might be our service, or it might be something else. There’s no obligation on your part, either.
So, is the Care Hub worth purchasing? Maybe. It depends on what you’re looking for when it comes to supervision or an older loved one. It won’t be able to replace the help of another person, but it might help your parent live independently for longer. It will all depend on your needs and your family’s unique goals and expectations.
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