The best tech solutions for aged and disability home care

How to stay connected and safe with smart tech

Whether you’re getting older or living with a disability, you probably want to stay living in your home for as long as possible. After all, home is the place where most of us feel the most comfortable, safe and loved.

As home care providers, we want that for you too. We believe one way to help you stay safe and connected in your own home is to use technology.

From home safety devices to care management tools, here are some tips for embracing technology and help you say safe and connected at home.

Household safety

There are many devices and integrations that can help improve your safety around the home. Some of these include:

Smart sensors and lighting

One concern about living at home is the risk of falls, which sometimes stems from dim lighting, making it difficult to see obstacles. With a smart lighting system, you can program it to turn on automatically in the evenings or when someone enters the room.

There are other smart home systems like smart blinds, which can be controlled by a remote control or even an app.

The CSIRO is developing a low-cost smart sensor system for safer homes which helps sense things like motion, light, temperature, humidity, vibration and power usage throughout the house. It takes this information to understand a person’s daily routine, and can then work out if illness or injury is detected.

Video doorbells and smart locks

To improve your home security, you could consider a video doorbell and smart lock. A video doorbell allows you to see visitors remotely such as on your phone, so you can make sure only the people you know can come into your home. You can also integrate a smart lock, which is controlled by a pin instead of a key. It means you can set different pins for different people and can lock and unlock it from anywhere.

Care management

It’s not just your home that can be monitored. There are various technologies and devices that can monitor your health and make sure you get help if something goes wrong.

Wearable technology

Wearable technology can include devices worn on the wrist or around the neck that can track your health and alert someone if something goes wrong. There are watch-type devices like Apple Watch, Garmin, or Fitbit which track steps and activity levels, heart rates and sometimes offer health monitoring. Some also feature fall detection, so your loved ones are alerted if you fall.

An alternative is a medical alarm worn around the neck like Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS). They offer GPS tracking and 24/7 monitoring which are helpful for people who might forget to put a watch on or to activate it during an emergency.

Remote care monitoring

At Five Good Friends, we use the Lookout app with care monitoring capabilities. This means every time our Helpers visit a Member, they write a checkout note. They might talk about what they did, how the Member felt, what they ate, and any other relevant information.

Our care monitoring algorithm will analyse it and then flag if it sees any real or potential risk. It’s so sophisticated that it can analyse the words in the report or how the words are used. Then it sends an alert to our Care Managers to review it. Learn more about our technology here.

Help at home

Technology doesn’t just keep you safe. It can also help you stay connected with your loved ones and can help you with household tasks.

Voice assistants

There are lots of voice assistants like Amazon Echo and Google Nest which are ideal for people with limited mobility. You can set them up to be connected to your phone so you can use your voice to call family and friends, remind you about medication and even turn on music or access news and information. Because they’re controlled by your voice, you don’t have to understand how it works. Once they’re set up, you can just ask for what you need, and the tech does all the rest.

Smart appliances

You wouldn’t believe how smart some appliances are. You don’t even have to walk around with a vacuum cleaner or look into the fridge to find out what’s in there if you don’t want to! Robot vacuums can clean and mop on a schedule or you can start and stop them from your phone. They’re designed to automatically navigate the house, and some have self-emptying functions. Smart refrigerators have cameras inside so they can tell you what you have in there and when the food is going off. It can help you see inside when you’ve forgotten the grocery list and can send an alert if the door has been left open.

Video calling platforms

You can use platforms like Zoom, Skype or FaceTime to make face-to-face calls to your loved ones. Depending on the technology, these platforms are available on your smart phone, tablet or computer with a webcam. Regular video calls can help with social connections and provide important emotional support no matter where you and your loved ones live.

Tips for staying safe online

If you’re going to embrace the online and smart tech world, there are some things you need to do to make sure you stay as safe as possible.

1. Use strong, unique passwords.

Make sure all your devices and online accounts are protected with strong, unique passwords. Consider a password manager like LastPass, where all your passwords are saved in a secure location. You could also set up Two Factor Authentication on important websites and accounts, like your bank. This is where you have a password and once you’ve inputted it, you will get a text to your phone with a code. You have to type both these codes in before you can login making it extra secure.

2. Keep software updated

When you get an alert to update software, make sure you do it straight away. These updates are often protections against security vulnerabilities.

3. Don’t give out your personal information

Be careful of what you share online and over the phone. If someone calls you asking for personal information, be absolutely sure they are who they say they are. If you’re feeling doubtful, hang up. Avoid sharing personal details like your address, phone number, or financial information on unsecured websites or with people you don’t know.

4. Stay educated about online scams

Stay informed about the latest online scams and safety practices. Share this knowledge with friends and family, particularly those who may be less tech-savvy, to help protect everyone in your network. Here’s some information about how to spot a scam from ScamWatch.

Would you like to learn more about other ways we at Five Good Friends use technology to help our Members live a more connected and safe life at home? Get in touch with us today if you’d like to learn more.

Learn more: Home safety checklist for seniors