Your mom and dad want to live in their home by themselves, but it makes you nervous. They don’t want you moving in with them. Thoughts of downsizing to a retirement community or assisted living neighborhood worry them. You want them to be happy, but you worry about them being alone all day.
You’re considering smart technology to keep them safe. Things like smart speakers, smart thermostats, doorbell cameras, and fire/smoke/carbon monoxide detectors allow you to keep track of their daily routines and possible safety issues. Is that the safest way for them to live alone?
How Smart Technology Helps
There’s no denying that smart devices can keep your parents safe. A smartwatch can track their sleep, heart rate, oxygen saturation levels, fall detection, and GPS location. If your parent has dementia and wanders away, GPS tracking is incredibly helpful. The same is true if your parent falls while gardening.
A smart thermostat sends an alert to your phone if the temperature in your parents’ home is too hot or too cold. You’ll know to send someone to check and make sure the heating or cooling system is working. If not, steps can be taken to fix it.
A smart speaker is useful I listening to audiobooks, music, and news. They can be used to make calls. They also connect to games like Escape the Room or music and film trivia. If your parents have a hard time using a remote for their TV, many smart speakers can also use voice-activated commands to find and play a movie or show.
Finally, smart doorbells allow you to view who is at your parents’ door. If it’s a salesman or stranger, you can talk through the doorbell and send them away.
Things You Should Consider
With smart technology comes a need to carefully monitor privacy and security. When you install smart devices, make sure you go through the privacy settings and make it as secure as possible. When there’s an update, you should go over the settings again and make sure nothing’s changed.
Smart speakers may store the things you say to them. If that’s not desirable, turn that feature off. When you register the product, use a junk email account and password that you don’t use anywhere else.
Homecare aides provide many of the services smart technology helps with. The difference is that your parents enjoy human interactions with someone they can see and touch. Smart technology’s robotic voices can lack emotion, which may seem cold and impersonal to your parents. With homecare aides, they never have to worry about losing out on warmth and personality.