Medical advances and an increase in quality of life have led to unprecedented growth in the United States’ senior population. People are living longer, and they’ll continue to live longer moving forward.
Living longer is great in that it means more time with loved ones and more time to do what you enjoy, but it also presents challenges. As of 2022, seniors made up about 16.5% of the population in the US (that’s nearly 54 million people); thirty years from now they’ll reach 22%.
With the worsening caregiver shortage, the senior population needs care solutions that rely less on human intervention and more on technology. Thankfully, the senior care technology field is growing rapidly, and AI and technology for the elderly are already changing how people age.
Senior-Friendly Home Assistants
According to the Pew Research Center, more than a third of seniors live alone. Living alone can help older adults feel more independent, but the risk of a medical emergency occurring when nobody is around to help is much higher than if they had someone else living with them.
Some seniors use a smart home assistant to help them better manage living alone. These assistants often come in the form of a speaker, and seniors can use them to play music, get news updates, and talk to loved ones. Most importantly, an assistant offers medication and calendar appointment reminders and often includes fall assistance, which is a crucial feature for older adults.
A home assistant can provide peace of mind to seniors and their families because they know that there is always someone there to help. For some seniors, a virtual home assistant is all they need to age safely in their home.
Wearable Technology for Seniors Living Alone
The risk of falling or having other health emergencies is much higher for seniors than it is for younger people. However, like everybody else, seniors want to maintain independence and the ability to go outside and live their lives.
To keep seniors safe, whether in their kitchen or on a walk at the local park, wearable technology for the elderly with cellular service and GPS capabilities is the best choice. Unlike early wearable technology, which relied on a hub that would disconnect every time the wearer left the house, modern wearables have cell service that allows seniors to send for emergency help wherever they are. A GPS locator then helps emergency responders find and assist the wearer quickly and easily.
Effectively, the right wearable technology enables seniors to have an active lifestyle without worrying about not having access to help when they need it.
Finding the Right AI Technology for Seniors
The future of technology for the elderly will bring continued innovation and features to make the aging process easier and safer for seniors, their loved ones, and caregivers. With the massive increase in the senior population over the next few decades, senior care technology will continue to be a more and more vital part of seniors’ lives.
While there is certainly a future for even more advanced senior care technology, many of today’s seniors use technology to help them lead safer and more active lives. If you are looking for the best, most comprehensive senior care technology system, consider investing in the WellBe ecosystem of products.
The WellBe® ecosystem consists of a speaker, smartwatch, pendant, and mobile app. The WellBe Smart Speaker covers seniors at home, while the WellBe Smartwatch and pendant protect the wearer wherever they go. The mobile app allows loved ones to keep tabs on health information to monitor any emerging problems. To learn more about the features of the WellBe ecosystem, click here.
If you aren’t yet ready to invest in senior care technology but still need some help caring for your aging parent, we can offer you a free guide. Caring for Aging Parents 101 is a comprehensive guide that covers topics including:
- The five most important aspects of caring for an aging parent
- Best practices for caring for the older adult in your life
- Resources and devices to make your life easier
Click here to claim your free copy of Caring for Aging Parents 101!