Seniors have more choices than ever before. For some, this is confusing and overwhelming. Is in-home care right for my mom? What about the nursing home? Which medication is going to be best to help treat my grandpa’s high blood pressure? There are a lot of questions like this that can make the senior care experience seem overwhelming
But choice can be helpful, especially when it comes to improving quality of life. This is what the Internet of Things sets out to do. By using technology to help seniors live their lives the way they want, senior care doesn’t need to feel so restrictive.
Let’s look at a few examples of how this can happen.
Sensors within the house can also help improve senior care. For example, some companies are looking at ways that can help increase safety. Sensors on beds can let approved outside observers be alerted if your loved one doesn’t get up in the morning. Emergency crews can even be notified if this option is selected. Sensors in the floor or a wearable can determine if your loved one has fallen or may have sustained an injury. Computer software that can read water usage habits can also help determine if a break in your loved one’s routine has occurred and help you to determine if help needs to be sent.
The downside to the Internet of Things is that it can be expensive. New technology always tends to be expensive, especially when it first hits the market. Many seniors do not have the expendable income to upgrade their home to incorporate this tech. A lot of the people that can afford this aren’t convinced that it will actually be worthwhile to invest in it. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people right now that this could help that don’t have access.
The good news is that as this technology grows in popularity and becomes more widespread, the cost of utilizing this will go down. Think about how expensive and cumbersome computers were when they were first introduced. This is no longer the case. You can find high quality laptops for less than $200, a fraction of the price that they were even ten years ago. As the price of these items go down, more and more people will have the ability to capitalize on the help that these things can bring.
The Internet of Things may help in some cases right now. Although this technology seems futuristic, it’s already in many homes. For example, think about a smart home device like Amazon Echo. These devices can track things that are ordered to get an idea of what items are being used and eventually, begin to predict when you are out of an item. You can even adjust the settings on these devices so that the items will be ordered automatically when they are needed. This kind of technology is being used in millions of homes already, and can make life a lot better for seniors by alleviating some of the stress of going to the store.
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