Would Communication Be Easier for Your Senior with Assistive Technology?

Some aging adults find that as their health changes, they experience greater difficulties with communication. You might find that some assistive technologies can help both you and your aging adult to feel better about her ability to communicate and to be understood by others. This can be immensely helpful for you, but even more so for your elderly family member when you can’t be there with her.

Caregiver in Reston VA: Assistive Technology

Updated Telephones and Smartphones

Telephones and especially smartphones have come a long way in the past few years. You can find phones now that utilize headsets, larger buttons, full keyboards, and other accommodations that your senior might find handy. Smartphones offer video conferencing capabilities right on the phone. They also have the ability to expand what they can do with a multitude of applications that are easy to download.

Communication Boards

Communication boards can be as simple as a small whiteboard with the alphabet and other common words or it can be a complex battery-operated device. The purpose of these devices is that they make it easy for your aging adult to express herself, even in the most basic terms, to someone else. They’re portable and easy for your elderly family member to use and for other people to understand.

Voice-activated Communication Tools

Voice-activated tools, such as lighting, telephones, and other items, help your aging adult to operate certain items even if manual dexterity is compromised. Some voice-activated tools allow your senior to speak into a microphone and then the software “cleans up” the audio to make it easier for other people to understand what she’s saying. Other types of voice-activated tools can help your senior control everything from the temperature in her home to operating her coffee maker.

Computers and Tablets

Computers and tablets allow seniors to communicate via email and social media, but they can also offer video conferencing capabilities like smartphones do. While some aging adults might not be willing to adopt these types of technology, you might find that once your senior learns how to navigate them, she enjoys how much easier they make communicating with other people.

These kinds of tools can help your aging adult to communicate better with you, but also with elderly care providers, doctors, and other family members, too.

Are you or a loved-one considering hiring a caregiver in Reston, VA?  Please call the caring staff at Medical Professionals On Call today.
Contact: 703-273-8818

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Michelle DeFilippis

I graduated with a BS degree and had been selling medical equipment to hospitals, clinics and technicians. More recently, a family member was diagnosed with dementia and we, as a family, realized we were not prepared t care for her. We were thrown into that whirlpool of hospital stays, 24/7 live-in care, skilled care, caring for mom ourselves and finally, now daily home care. This was such a stressful time that I started thinking there had to be other people, other families as overwhelmed and unprepared as we were.

Medical Professionals On Call has such a caring, professional staff who are available to step in with whatever level of care necessary for loved ones and to relieve you of that stress.

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