Tech Gifts for Elderly Family Members: Gadgets to Make Life Easier

It can be difficult to choose a great gift for an older person. While younger people just starting out in life might need kitchen appliances or even home furnishings, seniors often already own these types of items. At the same time, an elderly person’s health conditions may limit what gifts they’re able to use. Experiences involving physical exertion or presents requiring great vision and dexterity may be off the table.

That’s why tech gifts can be such a boon when it comes to gift-giving for your older loved ones. There are many user-friendly devices around that are great for seniors who need larger buttons or a simplified interface.

Tech can also be a great way of making life easier for an elderly person. It can help smooth over the difficulties that a senior with mobility issues or other health conditions faces while they’re maintaining independence and managing their own home.

So, if you’re looking to start some gift shopping, what are some tech gadgets you might choose for your older loved one? Read on to see our list of top choices.

1. Smart speakers

When an older person lives alone, sometimes they’ll miss having someone around to give a helping hand or to answer questions. “When is my doctor’s appointment next week?” or “Did I say we needed to buy eggs at the supermarket?”

Smart speakers provide exactly this kind of functionality. They can provide reminders about social engagements, appointments or even birthdays, as well as providing a way to keep a shopping list and other personal notes.

But that’s not all. They can also be used to play music without standing up to touch a remote control – which is great for older people with mobility issues.

If an elderly person has a full smart home system, the smart speaker can do even more, like turning lights off and on or even opening and closing curtains at set times.

When an older person has pain or difficulty standing up and getting around, managing these small tasks while seated can really help. In fact, if they’re living independently but finding it a bit more difficult to manage their home, conserving energy in this way could help them save their strength for the work that matters most, like preparing food and cleaning up.

2. Tablets with simplified interfaces

Some older people are super adept at using their tablets. If they’re accustomed to using technology, seniors may find it easy to adapt to a tablet interface.

Of course, others may find it more difficult. A complex interface can be confusing, and small text and icons can be hard to see. Moreover, medical issues like tremors or hand stiffness due to arthritis can make it challenging for an older person to tap on small areas effectively.

Tables with simplified interfaces provide a solution. They enlarge icons and clean up the home screen so that an elderly person can easily choose and touch the functionality that they want.

At the same time, they provide a host of senior-friendly functionalities. An older person can use the tablet to message or chat with family, to use Google, or to play games like Sudoku or Solitaire.

Doro is one leading brand of such simplified tablets.

Another option is to use a standard iPad and prepare it for your older relative by setting up a simpler interface called Assistive Access. This simplifies the iPad’s interface and makes the icons much larger.

Apple describes Assistive Access as being designed for users with cognitive disabilities. But its simplicity can also be useful for elderly people with dementia or for seniors who have significantly diminished vision, among others.

On this subject, several kinds of dementia-friendly mobile phones for the elderly are also available in the UK. They can also be a good option if an older person prefers a smaller device than a tablet.

3. Talking watches

A talking watch is a simple device with a key special function. It’s an analogue or digital timepiece that says the time out loud when a button is pressed.

As you would expect, this gadget is particularly aimed at the audience of older people with vision disabilities. Loss of sight can be disorienting for someone who has had a lifetime of seeing, and older people may feel adrift if they can’t tell what time it is.

What’s even better than a talking watch is a watch that provides extra functionalities on top of the main one. For example, some personal alarms for the elderly can be worn on the wrist and will speak the time out loud upon request.

And that brings us to…

4. Personal alarms with fall detection

Falls are a serious concern for the elderly.

For one, they can result in injuries like fractured hips that trigger an ongoing decline in health. An older person who ends up unable to move in a hospital bed because of this type of injury may lose muscle strength that they cannot get back, resulting in less independence and perhaps a move to a care home.

But that’s not the only risk of falls. There’s also the threat of a ‘long lie,’ which is what happens when an elderly person is unable to stand up again after a fall. A period of an hour or more lying on the floor can result in hypothermia, pressure sores and a fear of falling again which can seriously reduce a person’s mobility in the future.

There’s a lot that older people can do to reduce the risk of a fall – like doing balance exercises and adapting their homes for fall safety.

However, since there is no way to absolutely eliminate the risk of a fall, older people also need protection against a ‘long lie.’ Especially if they live alone, seniors need a way to get help fast after they’ve fallen.

That’s where personal alarms with fall detection come in. They can be worn in the form of a pendant or a wrist alarm that says the time aloud. But their most important feature is that they have sensors that are constantly assessing whether their wearer has fallen.

If the alarm believes that it has detected a fall, it will call for help all by itself – no input needed from the wearer. That can make all the difference if the older person is unconscious or too ill to press an SOS button on their personal alarm.

5. GPS trackers

There are two major reasons why GPS tracking is important for seniors.

Firstly, this can be lifesaving for elderly people with dementia who wander. Wandering away from carers or from home is a common behaviour in people with dementia. They may do it because they don’t know where they are or because they don’t recognise their location as ‘home’ – even if it is.

But the impacts of wandering can be severe. A person with dementia may wander into a busy intersection or walk around in the freezing cold without adequate clothing. It’s easy to see why it’s so crucial for an older person who is wandering to be located as soon as possible.

A dementia tracker personal alarm serves just this purpose. A lockable wrist strap means it can’t be removed by the wearer, and its GPS technology means that a wanderer can be found simply and easily.

For earlier stages of dementia, a dementia tracker with GPS can also be helpful. A senior with mild dementia might simply get a little bit lost while they are outdoors and need to call for help from family to get home. The tracker makes this process far easier.

A personal alarm with GPS tracking can be very important for keeping seniors without dementia safe, too. If an older person still enjoys going for walks in local green spaces alone, they can be at risk if they suffer a fall or another emergency while no-one’s around. The GPS tracker allows the alarm wearer to be found as soon as possible after they call for help using their personal alarm.

Trusted SureSafe tech to help seniors safe

Why do we know so much about gadgets for protecting the elderly?

Because at SureSafe we’re experts on elderly safety. As a leading UK provider of elderly personal alarms, we’re always thinking about ways to make older people’s days easier and more secure. Our excellent reviews are a testament to that dedication.

Curious about which personal alarm might be right for you or an elderly loved one? Just reach out to our expert team, and we’ll be happy to chat with you about all the ins and outs of our personal alarms. We’re available by phone at 0808 189 1671 and by live chat, or you can request a call back.