Who Is Alexa?
Her name is Alexa, you might have heard of her? She can do amazing things! In fact, she transcends the average eldercare personal assistant second to none. Alexa can tell you a joke if you ask her to. She can also shut off your lights, turn on your T.V. and she can remind you to take your medications or remind you of an upcoming appointment.
Who is she? Alexa by Amazon is a virtual voice assistant popularized by the Amazon Echo, an innovative device that acts both as a speaker and a smart-home hub, AND also works on many other devices.
What Can Alexa Do?
If you’ve never used a voice-controlled device before, you’ll be pretty impressed with Alexa right out of the box. After downloading the Alexa app to your phone or tablet and running through the quick and easy set-up, the user can start requesting their favorite music and ask Alexa questions straightaway.
Alexa, the voice service that powers Amazon Echo, provides capabilities, and skills, that enable people to interact with devices in a more intuitive way using voice. Alexa can help with music playback, making to-do lists, setting alarms, streaming podcasts, playing audiobooks, as well as providing weather, traffic and other real-time information such as current news and events.
Is Alexa Good for Eldercare?
Your loved one will absolutely fall in love with Alexa and all she can do, like being able to request songs, switch to a particular radio station and turn the volume up and down simply by saying “Alexa” followed by a command.
The care recipient can even ask Alexa to read them the news or a favorite book, and she also has a timer function which is invaluable when your loved one is in the middle of cooking, has their hands full and just wants to make sure their dinner doesn’t get burnt.
Your parents, grandparents, or your favorite uncle can also use Alexa as an alarm clock and set a regular daily wake-up call. You, the caregiver, can even add items to shopping lists or to-do lists, which then appear on your phone and the care recipient’s phone or whatever devices you have the Alexa app on. And there’s a whole host of other things you can do with Alexa that you can find and add via the skills section in the Alexa app.
Whether your loved one wants to exercise, order a ride via Uber, find out what’s on their Google calendar, or add new events, get the latest baseball scores, or the latest news update they can do that with Alexan too.
They can also listen to an audiobook; turn on their coffee machine and control lights and heating in their home and more! Although you’ll first have to have other Wi-Fi-enabled tech to do many of these additional things it is most definitely worth the added investment.
Using Amazon Echo For Caregiving
Beyond music, there are a number of handy ways Alexa can help you the caregiver and your loved one with daily life. And with new skills being created all the time, Alexa like a fine wine will only improve with time.
Voice controlled devices like Alexa can benefit the caregiver’s life in so many ways, and the care recipients. You’ll be surprised how quickly Alexa will become integral to you and your loved ones everyday life.
Because it’s voice-activated, whatever Alexa can hear she can potentially act upon. Turn the lights on without getting up, there’s an app for that! The same goes for clocks, crockpots, microwaves, and almost any electrical device around the house. If it can be plugged into an electrical outlet, the chances are that the Echo by Amazon will make its associated duties easier for eldercare.
Keep in mind that Alexa though intuitive she’s not perfect. Like any device that relies on Wi-Fi to operate, the Echo by Amazon with Alexa voice-activated technology is only as good as your Internet connection. And also keep in mind that The Echo needs to be plugged in at all times, which is not a huge bother but that means its less portable.
For caregivers with older parents, relatives, or loved ones who need help around the house, at under $200 the Amazon Echo with Alexa voice-activated technology is a definite must-have tech gadget.
The Amazon Echo is a worthwhile investment for caregivers and their loved ones who want to take a first step into voice-activated technology that will make eldercare and aging in place easier and more enjoyable.
Smart home technologies like Alexa offer older adults greater control over their homes and surroundings, allowing them to reclaim their independence and live safer, more comfortable lives in their own homes while offering their caregivers peace of mind.
