Aging at Home with the Help of Voice-Activated Tech

We just recently posted a piece on the general value of tech in aging-in-place ready home. But voice-activated tech may be some of the most valuable out there.

Explains Laurie Orlov, principal analyst at  Aging In Place Technology Watch, “The idea is that you can monitor and manage a chronic disease at home," according to an article from MobiHealth News.  With voice-activated technology that reminds us when and how to take our medication, when doctor's appointments are coming up and where they'll be, and can help us turn lights and appliances galore off and on, not to mention dial important phone numbers if we need help, more and more of the 65+ age group are able to stay at home, rather than face re-hospitalization or move into a permanent nursing home facility. 

Voice-activated tech can be adjusted to comprehend just about any language or level of speech, a huge plus to that side of IoT. According to AARP's Andy Miller, Senior Vice President of Innovation and Product Development, “We were going to launch [an app-based offering], but then we said ‘Why can’t we make this observational?’ I want to take that to voice,” Miller told MobiHealthNews. “Conversations can be making Mom feel good about interaction, and at the same time you can be extracting little nuggets of information. ‘Hey Mom, how did you sleep last night?’ ‘Hey Mom, what did you have for dinner?’ All these little pieces of information that really matter.”

So voice-activated tech offers our parents peace of mind, and us. It gives the 65+ generation more independence, the freedom to choose to age at home, and simultaneously allows their children, their caregivers, the ability to ensure they're safe, healthy, and well cared for. Having the security of that knowledge makes it possible for those of us on the caregiving side to live more freely as well.

Have you had experience with voice activated technology in your home or made it part of an aging in place plan?