Family, social life, belonging, love, relating to better quality life as grow older.
Over the past few years, I have been the major caregiver for my mother, who lives 350 miles away. This article is partly about my experiences using Alexa to help her, and partly to share some things I have learned about what is important in teaching technology to older adults in ways that … Read more
One of the great things about Alexa is that she never gets tired of answering the same question. The Alexa Skill Senior Moment may be the perfect fit for your mother's ATM location question. You can ask the Skill to remember the perfect answer to that question. Then all your mother has to say is, "Alexa, open Senior Moment."
This Alexa skill helps your family members plan their calls so they reach you at times that are convenient for you.
My dad lives in a different time zone and never seems to remember my work schedule. He is trying to call me for just a chat, but really gets confused about me being three hours later.
Here is another solution that keeps your Alexa account and that of your parents separate, but still allows you to start music in the house / room of a person with dementia when you want.
This solution shows how to use Alexa Routines to answer the “Alexa, how long until lunch?” type questions.
This is the fourth in our seminar series on Aging in Place Technology and Tools to Live Independently for Longer. View and Listen to the Seminar Abstract Richard Caro and Frank Engelman have an ongoing collaboration to publish a series of use cases and recipes for specific “smart home features” — useful … Read more
This is the second in our seminar series on Aging in Place Technology and Tools to Live Independently for Longer. View and Listen to the Seminar Abstract As many of us have been reminded during the pandemic, isolation and loneliness are very undesirable. But isolation is a frequent accompaniment to aging, as … Read more
Photo by Jonas Leupe on Unsplash As part of our “Smart Home Features for Older Adults” series, we are sharing some specific recipes and “kit lists” for individual smart home features — organized on a “room by room” basis. This is about the smart living room. Overview This article covers several smart living room features that … Read more
I needed a smart thermostat to help overcome problems of an elderly relative with dementia and low vision. I ended up creating a solution that combined a commercially available thermostat with some DIY automation using Alexa.