Was planning to give to her solely for health tracking options. She’s not too great with technology and eyesight ain’t the greatest to use text typing on watch to respond to people. Also doesn’t quite workout much so don’t really know if step tracking is much useful even. What the watch would do primarily would be sleep tracking and heart rate monitoring. A friend of mine suggested to get a yearly heart checkup (ECG, tmt, etc) instead of investing in the watch since it’s anyways not a medical grade thing and I am skeptical now about how to go about it. Anyone with suggestions? Btw planning a 41mm Series 8 in case if that’s important.
You must log in or register to comment.
Yes absolutely. At the very worst you will have to set up some stuff, but then your parent will have amazing medical & communication device on her all the time.
Good idea… setup is not a problem I live close by but I’m an android guy so don’t know all the details that are there about the watch. Someone suggested to get one for myself as well but that would be too much for me rn
It needs iPhone to work to begin with. So if you aren’t in Apple ecosystem already, you can’t really buy just the watch.
No she has iPhone but I don’t… that’s what I meant
If she’s having any trouble with her eyesight, you’ll be better off getting her a 45mm model watch. Take it from me, an old guy, it’s much easier for me to read/interact with.
I have bad close up vision and I have a hard time with either size.
My mom is 76 and she has an Apple Watch and loves it. Granted she is better with tech than the average 76 year old and can work her iPhone pretty well.🤷
Fall detection is a good feature for older people.
I’m 62 (although admittedly quite a geek), but I gave my previous model to a very non-techy 76 year old friend. She loves it! I do help her occasionally with it, but not too much. I say go for it!
Think fall detection and location tracking. If she gets used to wearing it now it will be easier on you in a few years if she develops dementia. Trying to get a dementia patient to start wearing a tracker is difficult. But if it is already part of her daily routine, you might have better success in her wearing it and remembering to charge it.
So I can track her from my android if she’s wearing the watch?
Jesus Christ. I’m 59 and my Apple Watch is fully integrated into my life (fitness, health, etc). And my 83 yo mom uses hers as well. Get the big one and see how much she enjoys it.
I got one for my Mum, and the more she uses it, the more she likes it. Not only is it good for the heart tracking but things like the fall sensor I think is also really important. To be honest, it’s good for my own piece of mind so for me it’s worth the investment.
That’s a fair point. I see that fall detection is the feature that most pick here.
I’m not sure what’s the best choice for you but I have an anecdote for you.
I got an Apple Watch a few years back and had my dad try it out. It detected a-fib right away which began a few years process of sorting that out. He’s not good at taking care of himself nor well aware of his body so it could have ended up being much worse by the time he figured it out otherwise.
That’s why I thought to get a yearly heart checkup done. Would detect more things than what a watch might.
Fall detection is always great. For the elderly. I got it for all 4 of my grandparents especially the 2 approaching 90s and it’s a peace of mind.
Sometimes they hide the injuries and what not and makes things worse.
Had to see my grandpa limping and won’t tell us why. And we check the security footage to see him fall at the door. Wish we knew sooner.
-
Get cellular if possible, 911 works without a cellular plan and without iPhone nearby.
-
Typing isn’t necessary, scribble and voice work great.
-
You can set a reminder to move each hour, if you’ve been sitting get up and stretch or at least wiggle your toes and squeeze your calves for blood flow.
-
Apple has short YouTube videos with easy tutorials, plus tips are on the AW.
-
She can set a small movement goal. While not doing any work out you can still see that you at least moved your minimum in a day or find you really sat on your butt and will make sure to move a bit more tomorrow.
-
It has a strobe light so if it’s dark and you need to be seen/helped you are visible.
-
Nightlight
-
Medication feature is a huge plus for tracking and reminding.
-
Hey, thinking about it also. Is the SPO2 reading accurate? Me Folks needed it . I see them using the fingertip SPO2 reading thingy whenever they feel tired after some time. Thanks
My parents have been using Apple Watch since they were 68 and now they are 72 and absolutely enjoys it. They’ve been working out daily thanks to the watch as well
If it helps with the ECG and the alerts, yeah why not. Just make sure that you mother uses it!
Apple Watches are fantastic assistive tech. youll need to help set it up and also make sure it’s regularly updated - if the opine auto updates and the watch doesn’t, for instance, they stop communicating. Probably turn off sounds and have it vibrate instead. Otherwise they’re super easy.
Things that might be particularly useful for a 60yo teacher whose not very into tech:
- countdowns - whisper ”5 min countdown” to it while holding button in when asking students to do something or to remind yourself to check the stove while cooking. Extremely useful and very discreet as only you feel the alert.
- calendar and reminders can be super useful. For my kids I put their school schedules (each lesson) on the watch and set a watch face that shows it and it helps them get to the right place at the right time.
- fun watch faces that you can change for different days/events.
- feel phone ringing even when phone is elsewhere.- text msg pop up. might need to set focus and VIPs so not disturbjng
- security of fall detection etc