The Right Tools for Aging Independently

Everyone gets older. Maintaining independence and security is all about having the right tools and services.

The world’s population is aging, and the United States’ is no exception — nearly 17% of Americans are 65 or older, and many of us plan to age in place, staying in our beloved homes and communities for as long as possible.

The key to living independently no matter your age is having the necessary support. This can put a strain on your budget, and on the friends and family acting as your caregivers or support team, which makes identifying services and devices that can support you a crucial step in aging independently.

Maintaining control

An increasing number of older Americans are embracing devices and services designed to support us as we get older. For example, Lively, a health technology company, offers a broad range of devices and services that can help you manage your life and maintain control over your living situation.

There are three key things to look for when researching these tools:

Ease of use. Tools that are too complicated to learn or use aren’t really useful at all. That’s why Lively’s Jitterbug Smart3 phone features a large screen with a simplified navigation menu, robust voice-typing capabilities, and a prominent urgent response button for emergencies.

Accessibility. It’s key that you be able to access these tools in any way that’s convenient or necessary. That could mean using a voice interface on your phone, or accessing services through smart watches or home assistants like Amazon’s Alexa.

Reduction of burden. Technology is supposed to make lives easier — both yours and the people who love you. Having access to Lively’s Nurse On-Call service, for example, lets you handle day-to-day medical questions instead of burdening your caregivers.

Meeting a need

Lively is more than a cell phone provider, offering a range of services that make your life easier and give your loved ones peace of mind, helping you to maintain your independence. Some of those services include:

• Urgent response and medical support that lets you summon help from highly trained agents or seek advice from a medical professional with the press of a button.

• The Lively Link App that keeps your loved ones updated about your health and safety automatically.

• Fall detection from a medical alert device that automatically sends help — because accidents happen to all of us, no matter our age.

• A personal operator, who can manage your schedule, and look up phone numbers and directions.

• Ride scheduling with Lively’s partner, Lyft, which can help you get to and from appointments.

The key takeaway is that these technological tools are all designed to enhance and support your independence no matter your state of health or mobility — without unduly burdening anyone else.

Many people resist the idea of needing any sort of emergency response or medical alert system because they worry it implies they can’t take care of themselves. But really, these services are as much about the peace of mind of your loved ones. You may never need to press an “urgent response” button on your phone, but knowing you have that capability can help everyone sleep soundly at night.

And what constitutes an emergency is unique to everyone. When faced with unexpected situations (locking yourself out of your house, losing a pet, wondering if what you’re smelling is a gas leak), being able to summon help instantly without sending a red alert tearing through your family’s phone network is both a blessing and key to an independent life.

Technology can enhance anyone’s life, but tools like Lively’s phones and service platform also offer something more: control and independence. As we get older, we need as much of both as we can get.

Written by Jeff Somers