Staying active, eating well and taking part in fulfilling activities are all part of vibrant aging. Residents in our assisted living community enjoy an array of services and amenities to help reach their healthy living goals, but some seniors also find technology can make things more comfortable.
Innovative gadgets arrive on the market every year. Here's a round-up of current tech devices available in stores and online to help you stay safe, healthy and connected to family and friends.
Bose Hearphones are conversation-enhancing headphones that make the sound around you clearer, whether you're trying to hear the dialogue on your favorite television program or having a conversation with a friend sitting beside you. You can choose to filter out background noise and amplify voices by adjusting controls on the Hearphones or on an app on your phone. The Hearphones consist of a lightweight band that sits comfortably around your neck and earbuds that slip into each ear.
Buddy is a personal health app that can be installed on a smartwatch to help seniors feel safer and more connected to caregivers. It uses sensors to monitor vital signs, such as heart rate and blood pressure. It also detects hard falls and can be set to send an alert to family members, healthcare providers or first responders. Buddy is designed to use machine-learning to better understand individual movement patterns to improve accuracy and reduce the chance of a false positive alert. The Buddy app is currently in testing, but you can visit their website and request to be added to the beta trial. The trial is free in exchange for providing feedback.
Digital photo-sharing frames are a great way for family and friends to share their lives with you. Display the Nixplay Seed digital frame in your assisted living apartment and have your children or grandchildren send photos from wherever they are in the world directly to you in Kearney, NE. Vacation photos, family portraits or candid shots are easily downloaded into the frame to help you stay updated on everyone's lives. The high-resolution screen provides vibrant color and automatically turns on when you enter the room so you can always see the smiling faces of your loved ones. Choose the Nixplay Seed Wave frame for photo and video sharing.
Fitbit Versa Lite is a fitness tracker with a large, easy-to-read screen. Designed to inspire active living, it monitors how many steps you've taken in a day and is a great reminder to get up regularly and achieve your daily walking goals with a stroll through the grounds of our senior community. Use the heart rate monitor to see if you're hitting your target heart rate when exercising and track your resting heart rate during the day. You can also gain insight into how well you're resting at night and how much time you spend in light, deep and REM sleep stages. Try the tracker's relaxing, guided breathing sessions to help reduce stress and practice mindfulness.
Studies show that animals can lower stress and bring happiness to their owners. While pets are welcome companions at Cambridge Court Assisted Living, residents who want the comfort of pet ownership without the added responsibilities and expense may enjoy a robotic therapy pet. Joy for All offers a selection of interactive animals that look, feel and sound like real ones. Choose from a robotic dog, cat or kitten with soft, realistic fur that's soothing to stroke. Built-in sensors and microphones let the pet respond to your presence with movement, meows and barks. Many older adults find comfort in the purr of a therapy kitten on their lap or the nuzzle of a dog that reacts to touch.
Tile saves you the time and frustration of searching through pockets, drawers and the cushions of your sofa for lost items. The finder comes in different sizes and attaches to bags, tablets, keys and remote controls and works with most Apple and Android phones. When you're looking for an item, use the Tile app on your phone to sound an alert. If the item is nearby, the ringing can help you find it. If it's not within range, the app shows on a map where you last had the item, which is helpful if you forgot your wallet when you were at an appointment in Kearney.
Apple Watches put smartphone features, such as calling and texting, on your wrist so you don't have to carry your iPhone with you. The most recent models, Series 4 and 5, are the first consumer devices that provide electrocardiogram readings to monitor your heart and let you know within 30 seconds of touching a button if your heart rate is high, low or irregular. The Apple Watch also detects hard falls and alerts emergency services if assistance is needed.
The watch's fitness features let you track overall daily activity, including how much you sit or stand and the amount of exercise you've had that raises your heart rate. The Series 4 and 5 watches are similar except the newer model has extra storage, the ability to make emergency calls in other countries and an always-visible display so you don't have to tap or lift the watch to see the time.
