Voice Assistants Help Seniors Age at Home

Digital assistants like Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri are increasingly integrated into daily routines and offer potential benefits for older adults seeking to age at home. These voice-activated technologies can assist with tasks like turning on lights, ordering groceries, or reminding users to take medications. However, current systems are not fully optimized for older users—many struggle to recognize soft or unclear speech and lack the ability to engage in meaningful conversation. For seniors with specific health issues, such as urinary incontinence, these limitations reduce the assistants' usefulness, especially when managing routines or emergencies.

Recognizing this gap, tech companies are developing tailored solutions. Tools like AskMyBuddy and LifePod enhance standard assistants by sending alerts to caregivers or offering personalized prompts to stay hydrated or follow a toileting schedule. Companies like K4Connect are creating integrated platforms allowing older adults to control home functions and monitor health devices, such as blood pressure monitors, via voice.

Voice technology, when thoughtfully integrated with other health and home systems, has the potential to support seniors with conditions like urinary incontinence by enabling discreet assistance, routine reminders, and safety monitoring. While not perfect yet, voice assistants may soon play a key role in enabling older adults to live independently at home longer.

Thiel Stern, S. (2018, October 2). Electronic assistants like Alexa might let you live at home longer. Next Avenue. https://www.nextavenue.org/alexa-electronic-assistants-might-let-live-home-longer/