It is our primary duty to secure the lives of our elders and seniors in the most convenient way, not only providing them with food and shelter but also making sure that they are safe, connected as well as entertained throughout the day. But the present times have also changed keeping us occupied for the major part of the day with our daily jobs and duties. Hardly do we get the time to look after the requirements of our elders and seniors like we wish to. Technology has aided a great deal in this prospect. Our smartphones truly have the potential to become our best friends and it can be used extensively to aid the causes of the seniors and elders in our family as well as society.
Listed below are the top smartphone apps that have the capability of enhancing the lives of the elderly and seniors in the best possible manner.
Magnifying Glass With Light
FREE
The most common problem that almost every senior person face is coping with the decreasing capacity of their vision. Their ability to see clearly diminishes with their increasing age and that creates a host of problems in their daily lives. Reading small prints are a day-to-day necessity for every person including our seniors. This app solves any such problem with ease by illuminating and magnifying anything that has been pointed by the camera of your smartphones. Be it magazines or newspaper and even restaurant menu cards and books, this app works brilliantly for all. (» iOS)
Skype
by Skype Communications S.a.r.l
FREE
Once you have solved the problem of diminishing vision there remains the problem of being well connected with family members and close ones. Nowadays most families are spread across the country or even the world due to professional commitments. It is very tough for them to connect with the elders of their family back home who long to hear their voice and see their smiling face. Skype has solved such connectivity issues by providing them excellent face-to-face interaction via their smartphones. It only takes a call to connect to your near and dear ones living far from you and experience video conferencing like never before. (» iOS / Android)
Pillboxie
by Nice Boy LLC
1.99 USD
In case of health emergency, the first thing one thinks about is medication and in case of seniors they need medication as soon as possible. Elders and seniors are subject to a number of diseases that require consistent medication on a daily basis. In earlier times the sons and daughters of the house used to take care of the prescriptions and provide the elders their required medication. Pillboxie ably takes their place and helps to streamline the medication process for the elders, providing reminders containing visual boxes of pills so that no medicine dose is forgotten or ignored. It also can be used offline sans a data connection and remains active while your phone is in sleep mode. (» iOS / Android)
There are many reasons to love this app, the primary one being the fact that it can provide quicker access to medicine lists than your usual medicine guide. It allows you to set up medicine reminders and also gives access to the website of the pharmacy so that prescriptions can be filled. Getting all of this just by a touch on our smartphone is reason enough to like this app and hence use it. That is why it is one of the most highly rated app in the market. (» iOS / Android)
Medisafe Medication Management
FREE
Memory tends to betray you once you are on the other side of 60. Same thing occurs to the elders and seniors and hence they tend to forget about their things and prescription and medications. They require a personal assistant who will be there to aid them in remembering their prescriptions. This app works just like that where you can upload your list of medicines and set up reminders according to it. It can also construct status reports in order to observe how correctly they have adhered to their regimen. Security is also another vital aspect of this app as it ensures protection of your vital medical information and prevents it to get disclosed to any other party. (» iOS / Android)
Lumosity: Brain Training
FREE
One of the most popular apps among senior iOS and Android users, this app has the advantage of serving a dual purpose. Firstly, it reduces the chances of procuring Alzheimer’s disease and different forms of dementia by providing a range of puzzles and quizzes and games which aids to keep the brain of the elderly active and their memory up to the mark. Add to that it is also a great app to spend time with where simple and light-hearted contents provide fun and amusement to the elderly users using it. It can serve as a source of great mental boost when required. (» iOS / Android)
Audible: Audio Entertainment
FREE
No matter how much you hate it but the reality is always harsh and it is certain that the eyesight starts to fade away once you are past a certain age. Words written in small fonts or in low lighting often pose problems to the elderly in reading them properly. It causes strain in their eyes if read for a long time and hence the ardent readers face serious issues considering it. Audible provides an effective solution to such problems by bringing an array of more than 1,80,000 audiobooks to your smartphone. Now the seniors do not have to go through serious eye hazards in order to enjoy the book of their choice. (» iOS / Android)
MyFitnessPal: Calorie Counter
FREE
Every family has an elderly member with a sweet tooth who couldn’t go through his meals without having something sweet in his tongue although it may cause serious health hazards to him. At that age chances of diabetes and obesity and other coronary attacks pose a great threat to the wellbeing of the person. It is hence necessary for the elderly persons to maintain a healthy diet and keep a check on those calories on a daily basis. Calorie Counter proves to be one of the most efficient apps for maintaining a consistent check on the amount of calorie consumed by the user daily. Users can record the count and hence try to improve it for their own good. (» iOS / Android)
Mint: Budget & Expense Manager
by Mint.com
FREE
Elders living alone away from their child often have to face a challenge of organizing their bills properly and paying them in time, managing the details of their bank accounts and solving out any financial issues. Mint bills and money is such an app that helps senior people stay on top of their money and their bills. All it needs is a one-time setup and it goes active instantly and helps you monitor your bank accounts and cards simultaneously. It also has methods to pay your bills through the app. All under one roof. (» iOS / Android)