Even though Amazon wasn’t targeting the elderly or disabled crowd when they first introduced the Amazon Echo back in November 2014, it is becoming an incredibly helpful device for many people – thanks to its assistive technology known simply as Alexa.
Many folks are gifting an Amazon Alexa for seniors because it can be an incredibly useful tool that enables the elderly to have their independence but also give their adult children some peace of mind.
In this article, we are going to talk about the many ways an Alexa device can help the elderly living alone, but also how to customize an Alexa for the elderly so that it meets their unique needs.
The Benefits Of Using An Amazon Echo For Seniors
Your children may have an Amazon Echo device in their homes and absolutely love it. As they learn all of its cool features and skills (we’ll get more into those later), don’t be too surprised if you wind up with your very own Echo device this holiday season.
Before you protest or stuff it in a closet, here are 14 ways you could benefit from using an Echo in your home.
1. Set Up Reminders
With Alexa, you can tell Alexa to set reminders for a variety of things. If you have trouble remembering when to take your medication, you can issue a command to Alexa by saying, “Alexa, remind me to take Paxil at 7 am.” You can create as many reminders as you need to for different medications, but you can also set reminders for things like:
2. Date And Time
Unlike real people who can sometimes get annoyed when you ask them the same question several times a day, Alexa for the elderly doesn’t care if you ask the same question a million times. It doesn’t matter how many times you ask, “Alexa, what is today?” or “Alexa, what’s the time?” she’ll always be happy to answer your questions.
3. Entertainment
Your Echo is capable of playing all sorts of entertainment, be it audiobooks, radio, music, or podcasts. If you have the Echo Show, you can even watch video. All you have to say is, “Alexa, play Pride and Prejudice audiobook on Audible.” Or “Alexa, tune into [radio station].” This is a helpful feature for seniors who have difficulty seeing or mobility issues.
4. Jokes And Riddles
Your Alexa can turn on your favorite show on Netflix or tune into your favorite podcast, but there are other ways she can entertain you. You can ask Alexa to tell you a joke or a riddle just by saying, “Alexa, tell me a riddle,” or “Alexa, tell me a joke.”
5. General Information
You can use your Echo to get regular information on everything and anything. You could ask her what’s on TV by saying, “Alexa, what’s on television tonight?” You can ask her other things like, “Alexa, who is the leader of Spain?” or “Alexa, how long does it take to defrost chicken?” Basically – if you have a question for something, Alexa can answer it.
6. Up-To-Date Reports
It doesn’t matter what you want to track, Alexa can do it. You can ask her to give you the current weather report, what the traffic is like, who won last night’s baseball game, and even how your stocks are doing. Just remember to say, “Alexa” to wake up the device before you ask your question.
7. Make Lists
This isn’t just useful for seniors; this feature is great for anyone who tends to forget to add eggs to the grocery list. You can also create lists for Christmas gifts, things that need to get done, and so much more. When you need to access the list, you ask Alexa to read it for you, or you can use the Alexa app on your iOS or Android smartphone.
8. Control Smart Home Devices
One of the nicer benefits of having an Amazon Echo for the elderly is that you can connect a variety of smart home devices to it. You can control devices like:
By being able to connect to these devices, elderly folks and those with disabilities can use Alexa to control them simply by telling Alexa to do something. For example, you can say “Alexa, set the temperature to 74 degrees,” or “Alexa, turn off the lights in the bathroom.”
9. Calls And Messaging
In most cases, family members who purchase an Amazon Echo for elderly parents, they’re doing so because they have an Echo of their own and appreciate how helpful it can be for older people. You can call and leave short voice messages to other Echo devices.
If you have a message, there’s a little blue light that’ll come on. Then you can say, “Alexa, play my messages,” and your messages will be played.
10. Customizable
Perhaps the best thing about getting an Alexa for seniors is that it can be customized. You can update an Alexa and add new “skills” to her that’ll make her truly a personal assistant.
11. Create An Intercom Network For Your Home
Gone are the days when you needed to scream at the top of your lungs to get someone’s attention in your home. With multiple Alexa devices in the home, you can use the network as an intercom system.
If you want to get someone’s attention and they’re in another part of the house, just say, “Alexa announce that it’s dinner time.” The announcement will be heard on every Alexa device within the home.
This will be helpful if you have mobility issues and need help getting dressed or going to the bathroom. When you’re ready for assistance, you can just ask Alexa to make an announcement.
12. Get A Little Pick-Me-Up
Jokes and riddles are fine. Trivia is great too. But sometimes you just need a little bit of a pick-me-up when you’re feeling a little blue. You’ll need to enable the “Daily Morning Affirmation” skill on your Echo, but once that’s enabled, you can just say, “Alexa, open Daily Morning Affirmations” and choose what kind of encouragement you need that day.
13. Take Some Time To Relax
Getting plenty of rest and relaxation is part of what keeps us healthy and happy! This is another benefit that’ll require enabling a skill (Peaceful Meditation skill), but it’ll be well worth it.
This skill will help you relax for a few minutes and get away from hyper grandchildren, crowded family gatherings, or when you need to decompress after a long day. To activate this skill, just say, “Alexa, open Peaceful Meditation.”
14. Shopping!
Who doesn’t love browsing through the many, many items available on Amazon? While we could toil away the day just looking at cool things, you can use Alexa to order things without ever turning on your computer! Just say, “Alexa, order [item]” and if you have Amazon Prime, your item will arrive in just two days! Who needs a grocery store when you have an Echo?
What Skills Should Seniors Enable?
We mentioned that you can enable different “skills” on your Alexa and we wanted to clarify what, exactly, skills are. Basically, you’re just making your Alexa smarter and tailored to your specific preferences.
Let’s take a look at what Skills you should enable on your new Alexa device.
1. Alexa Ask My Buddy
The Ask MyBuddy skill is a great skill to have if you live alone. With this skill, you’ll be able to alert a friend or family member of an emergency. You can either ask Alexa to call someone, or she can send them a message. You can even ask Alexa to alert a group of people by saying, “Alexa, ask MyBuddy to alert everyone.”
2. Uber Or Lyft
As an older person, you may not be able to drive as well as you once could. As a result, you may find yourself trying to schedule appointments around someone else’s schedule because you rely on them for a ride.
However, when you enable Uber or Lyft on the Echo. Then you can just say, “Alexa, ask Uber to request a ride.” You can also have Alexa ask Uber for a ride status or cancel the ride.
3. TaskRabbit
When you live alone and have trouble getting around, you may not be able to unclog a drain or repair a broken window. That’s when you can use Alexa to find a handyman via the TaskRabbit skill. TaskRabbit is currently active in 43 metro areas around the country so it may not work in your area.
However, if it is available, you will need to set up an account on the TaskRabbit website. After you’ve done that, you can say something like, “Alexa, ask TaskRabbit to find a handyman near me,” or “Alexa, ask TaskRabbit to find a housekeeper to clean my house.”
4. Jeopardy!
As an older individual, you’ll want to keep your mind sharp! You can do that by playing a few rounds of Jeopardy. If you aren’t a fan of that game, there are other trivia games that you can enable on your device.
5. Bible
Naturally, this skill is only useful if you’re interested in some spiritual guidance or if you like to read/hear scripture for a certain mood. With the Bible skill, you can customize the daily readings from whatever book (Luke, for example) you’d like.
6. Find My Phone
We’ve all been in a situation where we thought we left our phones somewhere, but when we needed to use it, it wasn’t there. The Find My Phone skill will locate your lost phone, but it also supports mobile calling when you add other mobile phone numbers to it. Unfortunately, land lines and business phones do not work with that particular feature.
For more great skills that you can add to your Echo, check out our blog article dedicated to the topic here.
Final Thoughts
The Amazon Echo has been a game changer for many people because Alexa, the Echo’s virtual assistant, simplifies many aspects of our lives. It doesn’t matter if you’re a senior with mobility issues or a disabled veteran who can’t sleep at night, Alexa can help.
You can ask Alexa to keep track of your grocery list and allows you to add things whenever you think of them. She can remind you to take your medication. She can remind you of upcoming doctor’s appointments, visits with the grandchildren, or to take the laundry out of dryer or when a family member’s birthday is coming up.
But, that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what Alexa can do. Amazon offers a huge Skills library with so many things that you can enable on your Alexa. If you’re feeling a little depressed, ask Alexa to tell you a joke or give you positive affirmations.
Do you want to find a new Christmas cookie recipe but can’t see the small print in your favorite cookbook? No worries. Alexa can read the recipe step by step, or if you have an Echo Show, you can look at the screen.
If you’re on the fence about using the Echo your children picked up for you, just give it a chance. You may be surprised by how a virtual assistant like Alexa can make your life a little easier and a little more organized. Plus, it’ll give your kids some peace of mind knowing that you’re alright.
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