iPad for Seniors in Scottsdale /Phoenix, AZ

With new gadgets and gizmos coming out every day, it can be hard to keep up and to know which ones are worth sharing with your elderly loved one.  Laptops are heavy and expensive, the iPhone has numerous useful applications but it’s too small for many seniors to use and desktops are virtually a thing of the past.  But there’s one new gadget that has the power to check your blood pressure and teach you Tai Chi all with the slide of a finger:  the iPad.

The size of the iPad versus the iPhone is an obvious advantage for seniors, but what else does this device offer for your loved one?  Of course, there are the standard brain teaser, scrabble and Tetris games, but there are also thousands of other applications which can help your aging loved one to live at home and enjoy life.

Health Information Applications

The new iPad offers many functional applications regarding your loved one’s health.  In fact, Healthful Apps, a series of medical-related applications, can be downloaded on iTunes.  This application offers Alzheimer’s Apps, Dialysis Apps,Health Tracker Apps and Caregiver Apps, to mention a few.  iPharmacy uses GPS to locate the nearest pharmacy and also provides information on medications and side effects.  The Bones, Joints, and Muscles application offers valuable information about the aches, pains and problems your loved one is facing in easy-to-understand terms.  In addition, WebMD has created an application for the iPad, offering all the same features available on the website, including drug information, medical listings and a symptom checker.

Self-Check Health Applications

Various self-check and tracking applications allow seniors to calm their fears when they notice worrying changes.  Perhaps the most intriguing of these applications is the HeartWise Blood Pressure Tracker.  Using illustrations and visualizations, this application tracks your blood pressure, resting heart rate and body weight, identifying any changes and alarming numbers.  With available vision and hearing test applications, your loved one can also keep track of sensory changes between doctors’ visits, alleviating any lingering concerns.  The free Stress Checkapplication not only offers research-based tests to assess your loved one’s stress level, but it also offers videos about Yoga, meditation and other stress relieving activities.

Alzheimer’s and Dementia Applications

The Alzheimer’s and Dementia applications are life-changing for those with the disease and their caregivers.  The I Know You application allows the user to upload labeled photos of loved ones to assist with recognition during visits with family and friends.  Another application, Alzheimer’s Cards, offers images that are intended to stimulate memory and help seniors to recognize their surroundings and communicate, even when words elude them.

Functional Applications

In addition to health applications and tracker features, the iPad also features functional applications that offer seniors convenience, particularly when out of the house. For example, many seniors are on restricted diets due to cholesterol, risk of heart disease and other conditions.  This makes it difficult to go out to dinner and enjoy social time with friends and family.  The Restaurant Nutrition application provides nutritional information about nearby restaurants, using GPS, and also allows the user to create a profile to track what he or she eats over time.  This takes away some of the stress of eating out.

Many seniors are also at risk for jet lag when traveling because they already have trouble sleeping under normal conditions.  Jet Lag Fighter is designed to help, using the travel and time zone information.  It tells you when to sleep and exercise in order to lessen the effects of jet lag, making it easier for aging adults to travel to see family and friends across the country and the globe. There are even applications to help seniors learn Tai Chi and Origami.

Doctors often tell their aging patients to walk or maybe even jog, depending on the senior’s current fitness level, in order to maintain heart health and fight off obesity. The Running Trainer Lite application helps your aging loved one to exercise safely, offering interactive GPS maps, information regarding lighting for night walks and planned exercise schedules designed for his or her goals and fitness level.

Accessibility

While these applications are fascinating, they are useless if your loved one can’t use the iPad.  Thankfully, the new iPad is designed for accessibility.  In fact, a 99-year-old woman named Virginia in Lake Oswego, Oregon just got her first iPad and is now using it to read and write poetry again, which she hasn’t been able to do in years because of poor eye-sight due to Glaucoma.  If your loved one has poor eyesight like Virginia, the iPad offers VoiceOver, which names the icons out loud when you touch them on the screen.  The screen also offers a zoom feature to help with visibility and it offers the capability to switch from black-on-white text to white-on-black, which may make it easier to read.

If your loved one has trouble hearing, the iPad offers Mono Audio.  When using headphones, this feature plays all audio in both ears so that nothing is missed due to surround sound audio.

Possibly one of the most innovative applications is Speak it! Text to Speech.  This application allows non-verbal seniors to type what they want to say and choose from four different voices to speak the text.  For the first time, this kind of tool is easily portable, making it fun and engaging for non-verbal seniors to leave their homes for a day of shopping or coffee with a friend.

Aging at Home

So, what does all this mean for aging at home?  It means that your aging loved one can have access to tools and information to function alone while you are out of the home.  It means that you can squelch your fears about your loved one with a simple self-check test.  It means that your loved one doesn’t have to feel disconnected from the rest of the world just because he or she is aging, and can have a little independence.  And that means your loved one can enjoy life, even though it’s changing.

Right at Home is a national in home care and assistance agency that provides trained, insured, and bonded caregivers for a variety of senior home care services. Whether it’s for extra assistance after a stay in the hospital, an aging parent who needs extra help, or as a respite for a husband or wife who cares for an ailing spouse, we can help with your senior home care needs.

(With thanks to Will Flavel for this post on http://www.rightathome.net/blog/)

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For More Information, In Arizona, Right at Home is standing by to assist you with your Senior In-Home Caregiving Needs.  Our trained, experienced, background-checked, caring, bonded and insured caregivers are waiting to assist you with everything from things like companionship, housekeeping and transportation all the way to helping with personal care items such as bathing, continence control and much more.

For Information or Home Care in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Fountain Hills, Carefree, Cave Creek, Paradise Valley, Arizona, please click Right at Home or call 602-569-7240

Myths about Seniors & Computers in Phoenix, Arizona



Four Myths About Seniors and Computers

Today, most of us take our computers for granted—in the workplace, in our homes, at the doctor’s office, in our pockets and in our cars. But early on, researchers expressed concerns about the “digital divide”—the line between those with computer skills and access, and those without.

Florida State University researcher Neil Charness points out, “The technology gap is a problem because technology, particularly computer and Internet technology, is becoming ubiquitous, and full participation in society becomes more difficult for those without such access.”

The divide today is drawn along economic and educational lines—but also, it seems, along age lines, with seniors slower to adopt digital technology and embrace computer use.

How are we doing today, a quarter century after the first personal computers arrived on the scene? This month in Caring Right at Home, we begin a four-part series about the ways computers are revolutionizing the way we age in America. Let’s begin by examining four common myths about senior adults and computers:

Myth #1: Computers are only for younger people.

First of all, let’s dispense with the notion that computers are a new invention, developed by young people. The reality is, computer technology has developed over the course of years, and there are plenty of elders who were computer-literate when computers were a lot less “user friendly” than they are now.

On the other hand, if you are old enough to have taken a typing class in high school, you are probably aware that those of us who encountered computers later in life didn’t benefit from early exposure to such skills as computer basics and keyboarding. So, for many seniors, there is a steeper learning curve.

It is true that at present, seniors lag behind other age groups in adoption of computer technology. For example, according to a recent report from the Pew Foundation, only 42% of people 65 and over use the Internet. But seniors are catching up: computer use is growing fastest in the over-65 population. And as the baby boomers age, the digital divide between younger and older Americans will continue to close. Seniors are using email, playing computer games and surfing the web in rapidly increasing numbers.

Myth #2: Computers are too complicated for seniors

There is an element of truth to this commonly held belief. Constant upgrades, ever more complex programs and the lighting speed evolution of technology are a challenge for anyone—and when you add some of the physical and cognitive changes of aging, developing computer literacy can seem daunting.

But, as we saw above, plenty of seniors have eagerly and easily entered the computer age. And new senior-friendly technologies are encouraging the trend. Computer manufacturers, software developers and e-commerce companies realize that with the aging of America, it’s good business practice to offer simpler user interfaces, website features for people with visual and motor impairment, and adaptive hardware such as keyboards with larger letters and arthritis-compatible mice. Seniors are adapting to computers…but computers are adapting to seniors, as well.

Myth #3: Computer use doesn’t have much impact on healthy aging

On the contrary! Not only do seniors need to be computer literate to stay in touch with the world today, but they also stand to benefit by the advantages of new technologies. E-commerce, online banking and finding information online are convenient for everyone—and all the more so for people with mobility and transportation challenges. The Internet can be a great source of information about “real world” activities and events, providing incentive to remain active in the community. And surfing the web itself provides a powerful mood boost: a recent Phoenix Center study demonstrated that Internet use by the elderly reduced depression by 20%.

Computer use also promotes brain health, combining reading and interactivity in a powerful way. You have probably heard of “brain exercise” computer programs and games—and did you know that going on the Internet gives the memory a good workout? A 2009 UCLA study showed that as seniors are performing simple web searches, blood flow increases in areas of the brain that are vital for memory and thinking. Researcher Teena D. Moody explains, “Searching online may be a simple form of brain exercise that might be employed to enhance cognition in older adults.”

And what about gaming? A waste of time for couch potatoes? Another recent study shows that seniors who play strategy videogames, such as Rise of Nations or Halo, experienced improved cognitive skills. Dr. Arthur Kramer of the University of Illinois also pointed out that seniors were more motivated to play these types of games than to use brain exercise programs. Seniors, don’t forget to apologize when you slay your grandkid’s “main character” in World of Warcraft!

Myth #4: Online social networking is only for young people

Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, chat rooms, online communities…older adults are going online for socialization in increasing numbers. Social networking is bringing seniors closer to friends and loved ones, and helping them make contact with new friends around the world.

As we saw in the September 2009 issue of Caring Right at Home, socialization is a vital component of healthy aging. Did you know that online socialization is a great way to supplement and increase “in real life” friendships? In the next issue, we’ll take a look at the new age of seniors online, and learn about some of the opportunities for staying connected! See “Grandma Friended Me! Seniors and Social Networking” to learn more.

For More Information, In Arizona, Right at Home is standing by to assist you with your Senior In-Home Caregiving Needs.  Our trained, experienced, background-checked, caring, bonded and insured caregivers are waiting to assist you with everything from things like companionship, housekeeping and transportation all the way to helping with personal care items such as bathing, continence control and much more.

For Information or Home Care in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Fountain Hills, Carefree, Cave Creek, Paradise Valley, Arizona, please click Right at Home or call 602-569-7240