Related: 18 Surprisingly Useful Things You Can Do With The Amazon Echo
But the more I learned about my own Echo, the more useful I realized it could be for my mom (and other seniors too!) The voice controls are easy to use, and there are no confusing buttons or screens to navigate. And Alexa, the “voice” of Echo devices, can provide all sorts of useful and helpful information that could help make seniors’ lives easier! And since I know I’m not the only one who worries about their elderly parent(s), I thought I’d share some of my ideas with you today. I think that by the end of this post, you’ll see just how useful the Amazon Echo can be for seniors!
You can set up reminders to take medications at a specific time. Just say, “Alexa, remind me to take my medicine at 8AM every day.” You can set as many reminders as necessary to cover multiple medications or different times of day.
The great thing about having Alexa around is that she never gets tired of answering your questions. Anyone who struggles with their memory can ask, “Alexa, what day is it?” or “Alexa, what time is it?” Alexa will always be happy to give the answers, no matter how many times she’s asked! 🙂
Ever since my dad passed away in November, my siblings and I have been worried about my mom living on her own. She’s very capable and independent, but we still worry about her! Since many of us have Amazon Echo devices in our homes, we decided to buy one to set up in her apartment, too. You can send voice messages between Echo devices, so we thought it would be a fun way to stay in touch with Mom throughout the day.
Another entertainment option that the Echo provides is jokes and riddles! Just say, “Alexa, tell me a joke!”
Use your echo to get information on just about anything. You can say, “Alexa, what’s playing on TV tonight?” or “Alexa, who was the 7th president of the United States?”
The Echo can give you current reports on anything you’re interested in tracking, like traffic, news, sports, stocks, and the weather.
Use the Echo to make a shopping list or a daily to-do list. Just say “Alexa, put milk on my shopping list,” or “Alexa, put ‘do the dishes’ on my to-do list.” Whenever you’re ready to hear the whole list, just ask Alexa to read it out for you (or you can view the list on the Amazon Alexa smartphone app on iOS or Android.)
The Echo gets even more useful when you connect it to your smart home devices. If you have smart home devices like light bulbs, locks, or thermostats, you can control all of them through your Echo. Just say, “Alexa, turn the lights on in the living room,” or “Alexa, set the temperature to 72 degrees.”
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