4 Ways Virtual Assistants Makes Life Easier for Older Adults

Amazon Echo. Google Home. Apple HomePod. The past five years have brought a flood of new smart speakers to the marketplace.

These voice-powered virtual assistants can do it all. From reminding us to take food out of the oven to remembering a family member’s favorite color. Rather than jotting down this information on calendars, sticky notes, and scrap paper, we simply tell our smart speakers to keep track of everything for us.

These devices can also help us in ways a notepad or calendar never could. The ability to connect your Echo or HomePod to other smart devices allows you to control everything from your thermostat to your microwave with the sound of your voice. And, in the event of a fall or other emergency, a virtual assistant could even help save a life.

Here are four things virtual assistants can do to help seniors living in Florida enjoy more independence at home.

1. Maintain Your Schedule

Virtual assistants can help you keep track of important dates, recurring events and upcoming appointments. Simply tell your assistant what to add to your calendar — whether it’s the date of a family member’s visit in two months or a prompt to take the chicken out of the freezer in two hours — and when to alert you.

Reminders can also be scheduled on a recurring basis, making it easier to track tasks like taking medications and changing the air conditioner filter.

You can set multiple alerts, too: Say you want to be reminded to send a card to a loved one a week before their birthday and also call them on their big day. This is especially helpful for those with memory loss or challenges.

2. Answer Questions

Virtual assistants come with a wealth of built-in knowledge, and anything they don’t know, they can usually find on the internet. That means they can answer questions ranging from “What day is it?” to “Who was the third prime minister of England?” (It’s Henry Pelham, in case you’re curious.)

In addition to what comes out of the box, you can also ask your assistant to remember information for you. This could include details like a family member’s favorite color or how much sugar is in your favorite cake recipe.

Added bonus: Because they’re robots, virtual assistants never get annoyed if they have to answer the same question multiple times!

3. Give Us an Extra Set of Hands

You can connect your virtual speaker to other smart devices and digital services, making it easier to accomplish everything from locking the back door to ordering groceries from the comfort of your favorite chair.

No more searching for the bathroom light switch at night. You don’t even need a remote to turn on a favorite show or put on a mood-boosting song. All you have to do is call out a command and your handy assistant will see it through.

4. Stay In Touch With Others

Depending on your device, you can use your assistant to make video and audio calls. This doesn’t just make it easy to catch up with friends and family, it can also help keep you safe. In the event of an emergency, all you have to do is call out and ask your assistant to contact a loved one for help.

As exciting as virtual assistants are, they do require some technical skills to set up and ensure the proper safety protocols are in place. To learn more about how Sonata Senior Living uses technology to help seniors living in Florida enjoy greater independence, call a community near you today or schedule a visit →