Smart Home Devices for Seniors

If you or your loved one currently lives independently or receives Home Care or Home Health Care services, you may be interested in ways to stay connected with your family, friends, and those who provide professional assistance. Today's advances in technology, especially smart home devices, provide seniors with increased security, connection, and convenience.

Modern-day smart home devices offer advanced home security options, provide help with daily tasks and reminders, can be remotely operated by family and caregivers, simplify home functions, provide quick and easy access to emergency calls, and more. This article will discuss the benefits of smart home assistants, the best devices for older adults, and how you can put Google Home and Amazon Alexa to good use.

How Smart Home Assistants Can Help the Elderly 

The benefits of having smart home assistants and devices for elderly people are extensive. Seniors can stay home and live happily and safely, knowing their smart home devices offer many automated settings for safety, connection, convenience, and even entertainment.

Smart home devices on the market today provide increased security through systems like remote monitoring of locks and doorbells that can notify you if your loved one leaves their home. They can also benefit seniors by making life more convenient, with such features as automated timed lights, and being able to control thermostats, and home appliances. In addition, they are great for setting daily medication reminders.

Since they can be voice-activated, your senior can quickly call you or even make emergency calls without having a device on-hand. Beyond making phone calls and looking up information, smart home assistants can be used for fun, too, such as playing music, reading books, and more.

Best Smart Home Devices for Older Adults 

If you are an elderly adult or your loved one is comfortable giving voice commands, voice control offered by smart home hubs like Amazon Alexa or Google Home is ideal. And if their home is equipped with smart devices like smart lighting, thermostats, TVs, and more, voice commands will work well.

For example, users can wake up in the morning and have devices set so hallway and bathroom lights turn on and the TV or radio plays their top listened to station. At night, they can automate the lights to lower, play soothing music, and have the doors lock. These functions can help build a routine and release the stress of everyday tasks and responsibilities. 

Is Google Home Good for the Elderly? 

Google Home will connect to many of the smart home devices in a senior’s residence. It is the hub controlling the lighting, security, appliances, and more throughout the house (all of which are separate devices you will need to purchase).

Both Google Home and Amazon Alexa provide the ability to set reminders, make phone calls, access weather news, reach 911 in an emergency, and more. However, Google Home allows your loved one to get the Google search engine, meaning they can ask it questions which it will almost always have an answer.

Is Amazon Alexa Good for Seniors? 

Amazon Alexa (or Amazon Echo) is another terrific voice-activated smart home device that is an excellent tool for an elderly person or their family to have. It can control the lights or adjust smart appliance settings, control the thermostat, turn on the TV, monitor security systems, and more.

And for those living out their golden years, it is an effective way to be reminded to take medications and doctor appointments when they forget. If medication reminders would be beneficial for you or your loved one, be sure to read our next article, "Top Medication Reminder Apps.”)

With Amazon Alexa's Care Hub feature, when you and your loved one sync your Alexa accounts, you can stay remotely connected to monitor activity or view their device settings to assist when necessary. And if they call emergency services (911), it will notify anyone who is connected.

Find Senior Care Near You 

Smart home devices are helping seniors live a happy, safer lifestyle at home. However, smart devices will never be able to truly replace the monitoring and support that they can receive in a community-based setting such as Assisted Living or Memory Care. This technology can help bridge some of the gaps as a short-term solution when used in conjunction with Home Care or Home Health Care services, while still having the benefits of independent living.

Your senior will probably need your help connecting their smart devices to their smart home hubs like Amazon Alexa or Google Home. And if this feels overwhelming at first for both of you, try introducing smart devices one at a time so they can become more familiar with the new technology. When it’s time for professional support and care, let Referah's Family Connection Agents help guide you with your senior living needs. We work closely with seniors and their families in communities across the country to help you find professional senior care and support near you.