Smartwatches Benefit the Elderly More Than the Young
You would be forgiven if you looked at the websites for smartwatches and think they are only for young, vibrant people engaged in running or extreme sports.
We think smartwatches are even more important for seniors!
Smartwatches can improve the quality of life for seniors by offering a range of practical features that promote health, safety, and independence.
Improved Safety for Seniors Living Independently
Most smartwatches include GPS capability. Rather than track location while running a marathon, the GPS tracking can ensure safety by allowing friends, family or caregivers to track an elderly person in real-time. This functionality is not about reducing a senior citizen's privacy. Most elderly people are not engaged in behavior they do not want tracked.
Other safety features in many smartwatches include fall detection and calling local emergency services if the need is urgent. Smartphone manufacturers who also sell smartwatches have a help app where a person's prescription medication can be listed. A growing number of emergency responders around the world have been trained to look omn smart devices for medication lists from unconscious patients.
Promoting Better Health For An Elderly Person
Who doesn't need more steps and better sleep? A very compelling argument can be made that an elderly person can greatly benefit from increased physical activity and quality rest.
Better Fitness And Activity Tracking
Staying active is essential for an elderly person to age gracefully and potentially live longer. Smartwatches encourage physical activity by tracking steps, calories and assistance to help limit time sitting by reminding the senior to stand and walk. An active lifestyle is a very powerful tool for the elderly to preserve and maybe even gain a higher level of fitness.
Promoting An Independent Living Lifestyle
At their very core, a smartwatch has health monitoring, emergency assistance, GPS positioning and encourages physical activity. Combining all these great features into a device that can be worn 24/7, smartwatches help the elderly live more independently, remain connected, and allow them to reach out in the event of an emergency. Smartwatches continue to become more feature-rich and these features tend to come on lower price point devices over time.
Better Sleep for Seniors
One tool to help the elderly live a healthy lifestyle is better sleep. Smartwatches worn at night can track sleep stages, identify sleep disruptions, track sleep goals to the time and quality of sleep, and offer sleep time reminders and tips on how to prepare for better sleep. Many studies have shown that better sleep is critical for overall better health and well-being. Some studies have linked better sleep to disease prevention, immune system support, improved cognitive function, mood regulation and many other improvements. If these benefits are important to younger and middle-age persons, we think they are critical for the elderly. It all starts with measuring your sleep and a smartwatch is a great tool.
Why It Matters
We can't think of a better complimentary device to a smartphone than a smartwatch. In addition to all the health, safety, communication and activity features, it is a device that is attached to a senior citizen around the clock.
We want seniors to live independently for as long as possible and give them the assistance to do so with greater confidence.