Activities of Daily Living: Senior Care Taking 101

Today's seniors want to be more independent than ever before. However, as a caregiver, ensuring that the senior loved one in your life is safe and well cared for is your primary concern. In the past, the option to use technology to help aging loved ones stay at home safely wasn't available. Now, there are many more options that allow us to care for loved ones in a meaningful way while allowing them to stay independent. Here's what you need to know about senior care taking and how technology can support activities that are important to your loved one's daily life and independence.

1. Socialization

It's important that your loved one feel connected to family and friends, even if they are unable to leave the house much. The IndependaTV™ incorporates technology such as social media and video chat. Most of us take this technology for granted every day of our lives but for many older adults it is challenging. With the simple, easy to use IndependaTV™ your elderly loved one connects to your social media posts, pictures and allows video chats with you - all from his or her television using the TV’s remote, a familiar tool used every day.

2. Medications

For your senior loved one, taking prescribed medications on time and as directed is an important part of daily life and contributes to health and independence. However, as your loved one ages, he or she may not remember when to take medications or how much to take. Using Independa’s technology caregivers can input medication, doses, reminders and special notes into the IndependaTV™ caregiver dashboard so your loved one knows when medication is due. Reminders pop up right on the IndependaTV™’s screen while your loved one is watching favorite shows.

3. Bathing

While many seniors accept assistance with other daily living activities like physical activity or meals, many will strive to maintain their independence and privacy as much as possible when bathing and grooming. You can help your loved one stay safe while bathing alone by installing a special shower chair as well as non-slip tub stickers and bath bars and mats. A reminder to bathe can also be entered into the dashboard and will appear on the IndependaTV along with safety tips for bathing.

4. Physical Activity

Low impact Physical Activity is a critical part of a healthy, independent senior lifestyle. Walking is an excellent activity that many seniors are able to enjoy without pain. Discuss your loved one's fitness needs with his or her physician and ask for a recommendation on what exercises would be best. 30 minutes of cumulative activity most days of the week has been shown to delay dependency even in very frail older adults.

5. Meal Time

Meal time is something that many seniors look forward to during the day; however, it can be easy for some older individuals to forget to eat or remember special dietary instructions. The IndependaTV™ caregiver dashboard allows you to set up meal reminders with customized messages like, "No caffeine after 2:00 PM." or "Be sure to have fresh fruit with lunch." Caregiving can be challenging, but it's also extremely rewarding. By utilizing technology like IndependaTV™ to your advantage, you can ensure that your loved one is getting needed care and social stimulation which foster continued independence. ________________________________________________ About Independa Independa believes that the elderly are vitally important to family members, their community, and our culture as a whole. That’s why we created IndependaTV™and IndependaTVe™, the world’s first and only TV with an embedded engagement platform designed for older adults. IndependaTV™ enables stronger connections between caregivers and their elderly loved ones with a beautifully designed and user-friendly TV that allows you to monitor their health and wellbeing, coordinates appointments and events, and engages them with their families through video chat when you can’t be there. Independa TVe™, enables senior living communities and their staff to generate a higher occupancy ramp, reduce staff inefficiencies, and improve the quality of life and engagement for their residents. IndependaTVe Plus™ is integrated with a wide range of medical, environmental and activity monitoring devices allowing clinical staff to respond when something isn’t quite right.