Senior Living

Elderly Monitoring Devices for Senior Safety

New technology can help bridge the gap between older adults and their caregivers or family members. To get peace of mind as you monitor a loved one from afar, you can leverage these best-in-class tools to get alerts about their health and safety – whether they live alone at home or in a senior living community in West Cobb. 

At Varenita, we believe in the power of technology to enrich the aging experience. Here’s our expert selection of elderly monitoring devices, so that you can choose the right tools to elevate your loved one’s well-being at a distance. 

Our Criteria for Choosing These Tools

To bring you the best recommendations, we scoured the internet and researched what current caregiving families found useful. 

Yet, not all devices met our quality criteria. To make this list, the technology had to show at least some level of commitment to these factors:

  • Easy to set up and monitor from a distance
  • Best-in-class for caregiving uses
  • Minimal monthly fees to maintain it (ideally none)
  • Easy to charge and update
  • Protects data privacy

Overall, the device had to be easy-to-use for both seniors and caregivers, and avoid monthly fees that inflate the cost of care over the years. 

The tools also had to be tailored to caregiving scenarios, so that they would be practical and secure for families. 

Our Top Recommendations for Elderly Monitoring Devices

For Senior Wellness

For Health Monitoring Everywhere: Angel Watch Series R – Assist

Price: $189.99 (with add-on mobile services through Red Pocket if desired)

The Angel Watch Series R – Assist gives your family robust, real-time insights into your loved one’s health and safety. 

Unlike other popular smartwatches such as Apple, caregivers can have full control via the Angel Watch App and all data is encrypted for total privacy. 

The Angel Watch Series R – Assist offers excellent safety features such as fall alerts, GPS location tracking (including “Out-of-Bounds” alerts) and a dedicated SOS button. 

In addition, the watch allows for key activity and health monitoring features including:

  • Activity monitoring including a pedometer, distance coverage, estimated calories burnt and sleep quality monitoring
  • Remote readings of body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure and blood oxygen levels
  • Voice and video calling for check-ins, plus messaging
  • Medication reminders

Overall, the Angel Watch Series R – Assist is an excellent choice for seniors living at home or in assisted living who you would like to monitor a little more closely from afar. 

For In-Home Habit Monitoring: Caregiver Smart Solutions

Price: $597 for full kit, plus $59/month subscription

The Caregiver Smart Solutions gives you insight into your loved one’s well-being using sensors instead of privacy-invading cameras. 

This kit includes movement sensors, emergency buttons, a temperature/humidity sensor and door/drawer sensors that you can place around the home to track habits such as:

  • Taking medications
  • Unusual movements, such as a fall
  • Using the bathroom normally
  • Sleeping habits
  • Eating and drinking habits
  • Moving around the home (not staying sedentary)
  • Wandering out of the home or leaving a door open

These insights are then relayed over the secure Caregiver app (which doesn’t share data with third-parties). You can also set-up a wealth of alerts according to your concerns.

For Medication Management: MedaCube

Price: $1,599

MedaCube isn’t the cheapest automatic pill dispenser on the market, but it’s the most sophisticated and the only one that doesn’t lock you into a monthly subscription fee. 

With it, you can load a 90-day supply and up to 16 different medications for automatic dispensing (no pre-sorting necessary). It also alerts seniors and caregivers if a dose is missed via text, email, or call. You can even get a picture of the pills for each dose and an alert for any potential tampering.

For Senior Personal Safety

If Your Loved One is Prone to Wandering: Wyze Lock

Price: $123.99

The Wyze Lock is an ideal way to ensure your parent’s safety at home. This smart lock gives you remote control to lock from afar and sends alerts about doors being opened or left unlocked. 

Your loved one can also keep their physical key, as the lock fits over the current deadbolt. 

In addition, you can also send virtual keys to caregivers or family members, and connect the smart lock to Alexa so it works with voice commands. 

If Your Loved One is at Risk of Falling: Evolv AI Hearing Aid

Price: Not listed (depends on health provider and insurance)

Numerous companies offer pendants or buttons to alert family members about falls. Yet, we heard from families that these plainly visible devices were embarrassing to seniors and they were resistant to wearing them. 

We already mentioned one great wearable option for fall tracking with the Angel Watch Series R – Assist. But another non-invasive option is the Evolv AI Hearing Aid, which sends alerts to chosen contacts if the hearing aids detect a fall. 

The Evolv AI Hearing Aid also has some other wellness benefits, including advanced hearing technology, 2-way audio, engagement tracking, activity tracking and medication reminders. 

If You Want to Communicate With a Secure, Two-Way Device: Komp by No Isolation 

Price: $39/month

To check on your loved one, you may be looking for a device that they can easily use. Komp by No Isolation is a one-button screen that creates a private, closed network between you and your loved one. All calls and messages appear on the friendly interface automatically. This is a great alternative for seniors living in memory care who may find tablets and phones confusing. It’s also fully encrypted, so you can be sure your data is secure. 

Home Safety for Seniors

For Security Monitoring: Cam Plus Pro + Wyze Cam v3 Bundle

Price: $29.99 (plus $3.99/month with Cam Plus Pro live agent services if desired)

Whenever you add a camera to your loved one’s house or room, be sure to ask their permission first. Ideally, cameras can be used to monitor doors or the outside yard, so that they don’t intrude on privacy. 

The Wyze camera is very affordable and offers smart notifications, full-length cloud recordings and an emergency response with live agents 

For Monitoring Smoke and Carbon Monoxide: Google Nest Protect

Price: $119

If you’re worried about fires or carbon monoxide poisoning, the Google Nest is a five-star smart device for getting phone alerts if something goes wrong. The smoke and carbon monoxide detectors also warn aloud in a friendly voice, which can be comforting to your loved one.

For Controlling Smart Lighting and Appliances: Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug Mini

Price: $19.97

Finally, if you’re worried your parent may leave an appliance on or forget to turn off the lights, you can remote control them with the Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug Mini. You can even set a schedule, or turn off appliances with one tap from the app. 

Other Interesting Technologies for Seniors

In addition to monitoring devices, there are a ton of interesting technologies that could improve quality of life for the elderly. Some of our favorites include:

  • Rosie – a smart clock that gives personalized voice reminders that you can record for your loved one
  • Embodied Labs – a fully-immersive VR program for caregivers and families to better understand what the elderly experience is like
  • Joy for All – a robotic pet companion for older adults

The Importance of Data Privacy for Older Adults

As families incorporate more technology into seniors’ daily lives, there are also some privacy issues that should be discussed upfront. To start, it’s important to respect your loved one’s privacy by never adding invasive indoor cameras or sensors without their permission. 

In addition, it’s essential to find vendors and senior living communities that are committed to senior privacy. Unfortunately, it’s common today for vendors to share data with third-parties, record location data or not include encrypted protection for data. For this reason, you should research every device that you purchase and utilize, so that you don’t accidentally expose your loved one.

Senior living communities also play a key role in ensuring seniors’ privacy and data is kept safe. Every senior living community should actively work to choose vendors with data protections and collaborate closely with seniors to help with set-up needs, so that user error doesn’t result in data leaks.

Our Commitment to Technology at Varenita

At Varenita, we’re thrilled by both our people-centered care and the possibilities of technology to improve the elderly experience. Today, we utilize secure, senior-friendly tools to track health through our electronic health system, as well as an emergency response system in every apartment. 

All technologies we incorporate into our community are vetted by professionals for safety and security, so that we can enhance the senior experience without any sacrifices to privacy. Learn more about our Varenita community and our commitment to technology by contacting us online.