The month of November is National Family Caregiver Month. It is a time set aside to help raise awareness about the difficulties faced by friends and family members who care for a senior loved one or someone living with a disability. Caregiving is a difficult role. It is especially challenging when a loved one lives alone. Family caregivers have the constant stress of wondering and worrying about how they are doing.
In honor of National Family Caregiver Month, we are sharing some of the great tools that can help caregivers stay connected and aware of how their loved one is doing. Whether you are providing care from around the corner or across the country, these technologies can offer solutions.
Tech Tools to Keep Seniors and Caregivers Connected
- eResponder Mobile Personal Emergency Response System: This modern in-home emergency response system works off of wireless technology. That means the person wearing the eResponder can call for help from wherever they are whether it is the shower to their backyard. This quick video will give you a firsthand look at how a senior can benefit from this system.
- VideoCare: A newer technology, VideoCare allows an adult child to have a face-to-face conversation with a senior loved one by video. For the senior, it is simple and easy-to-use. A simple touch of the screen launches the system. No logging in or remembering complicated steps are required. It can also be used to send and receive emails, view photos, and set up appointment and medication reminders.
- Medication Management: There are a variety of tools that can take the worry out of medication management. They can be simple pill boxes that are set up to send an alert to the senior to more comprehensive systems that text the caregiver if a dosage isn’t taken.
- Remote Monitoring: When you need a more comprehensive system, remote monitoring technologies can help. These work off of sensors that are easily installed in key locations around the home. They send wireless signals to a base so caregivers can check on their loved one remotely throughout the day. If something out of the ordinary occurs, such as an exterior door opening in the middle of the night, the caregiver can be alerted.
- Wandering Support: If your senior loved one lives with Alzheimer’s disease, newer GPS technologies can help keep them safe. Discrete devices like the Triloc GPS Watch can allow you to locate them in the event they wander. The also allow them to call for help if they need it.
These systems can be combined to create a custom solution that help keep your senior loved one or family member with a disability safer at home.
