[Technology] Tech help needed for elderly relative

Hi all, especially anyone techy.

My dad has Alzheimer's. He's not too bad at the moment, but obviously I'm trying to avoid all contact insofar as is possible.

What I'm looking to do is set up him up with a tablet on this mantelpiece, which would be plugged in and permanently on, with which I could remotely pass him messages, "take your pills" etc.

Crucially, he's not going to be able to go into an email account to get to these messages, they would need to be popping up in big writing and basically covering the entire front screen of his tablet. In effect, i'd need to be able to write all over this front screen to pass him day to day messages.

Do you know of an app, or a particular set up I can put in place to do this?

Thanks

Whatapp or Facebook messenger - maximised to full screen?

Might be tricky to keep it charged... not get interruptions from Android updates or other apps etc...

Would an Alexa Dot work? - not visual but would allow a two way conversation and cheaper than a tablet.

As suggested by [MENTION=27275]Creaky[/MENTION] - don't know if this helps :

Amazon Echo

This is the solution that provides way more than just two way communication, plus it is activated via voice commands. That makes is the perfect system for people who are quadriplegic, vision impaired (blind), disabled, or elderly. The product is called Echo and there are several versions of it, but the least expensive one that does the trick is the Echo Dot.Echo Dot for disabled

This main downside of this system is that it does require Internet service and a Wi-Fi router and it does require an account at Amazon since they provide a service called Alexa to run Echo. This account could be yours and you set up all devices under your account (even if they aren't located in the same city). This solution also requires the person that sets it up to have a smartphone and the Alexa app. However, the smartphone is not needed for using the system. Any changes that need to be made to the system can be done from remote locations so if you are setting up a system for your elderly parents, for instance, you can use your smartphone to manage their system even if they are in another part of the country/world. You would need to be at their residence on the initial hardware setup since you will have to connect it to their router.

For intercom, Echo has a "Drop In" feature that allows you to call other Echo devices in your system that are set up to receive calls. So you name each Echo device something that's appropriate for the location, like Kitchen, Office, or Master Bedroom and when you are near any of the Echo devices, like the Office, you can simply say "Alexa, drop in Kitchen" and you will be instantly connected. Anyone in the kitchen can just reply to your call without touching anything. When done you just say "Alexa, hang up." So you never have to touch a single button.

Use can also use Echo to call phones as long as the person you want to call is in your contact list. All you have to do is say "Alexa, call Mom" and it will dial Mom's phone number. Then you can talk hands-free though your Echo device.Echo spot for elderly

If you also want a video screen there is the Echo Spot or Echo Show. These can be used with video doorbells so you can talk and see who is at the front door without having to go to the front door.

if i understand correctly you want to be able to push messages and visual interaction without him having to "answer". its an interesting one as many features from power saving to security are there to specifically stop this type of behaviour. one for a developer maybe, to build an app?

Thanks. Forgot to mention is pretty much totally deaf, so Alexa is out.

beorhthelm said:

if i understand correctly you want to be able to push messages and visual interaction without him having to "answer". its an interesting one as many features from power saving to security are there to specifically stop this type of behaviour. one for a developer maybe, to build an app?

Click to expand...

Yes, that's what I want.

I want to be able to flash up his daily schedule, more than anything... "10am call doctor" etc. He doesn't need to communicate back.

I had a look around but can't find anything, but yes, you'd have though there would be. There are plenty of relatives who want to be able to help a parent remotely

Can you provide him with an android tablet (many cheap / reasonably priced ones out there), that is permanently plugged in, at a suitable location?

If so, you can remotely control the tablet and operate it as if you were in the room - examples include opening an app and writing a message on screen, using the video camera to monitor whether he has seen it (a thumbs-up from him would suffice).

See https://mashtips.com/android-screen-sharing-app/, or Airdroid https://www.airdroid.com/ - look at the 'remote control' part of the instructions.

blue-shifted said:

Hi all, especially anyone techy.

My dad has Alzheimer's. He's not too bad at the moment, but obviously I'm trying to avoid all contact insofar as is possible.

What I'm looking to do is set up him up with a tablet on this mantelpiece, which would be plugged in and permanently on, with which I could remotely pass him messages, "take your pills" etc.

Crucially, he's not going to be able to go into an email account to get to these messages, they would need to be popping up in big writing and basically covering the entire front screen of his tablet. In effect, i'd need to be able to write all over this front screen to pass him day to day messages.

Do you know of an app, or a particular set up I can put in place to do this?

Thanks

Click to expand...

It's possible to use something like TeamViewer to remote control his tablet.

This means that you don't need an app for exchanging messages, you can just draw/write on his screen using anything from Paint to Notebook apps.

So long as he doesn't power down at his end, you can remotely wake up his screen and it's the closest I think you can get to actually being there doing it yourself.


Edit: effectively the same solution as the previous post but TeamViewer is free for personal use and works across multiple platforms (certainly PC and Android, I believe Apple too).

Have you considered a low tech radio pager that he could carry around in his pocket?

Buy him a cheap smart phone or tablet, and sync the calendar daily/hourly with alarms for whatever actions are required.

blue-shifted said:

Hi all, especially anyone techy.

My dad has Alzheimer's. He's not too bad at the moment, but obviously I'm trying to avoid all contact insofar as is possible.

What I'm looking to do is set up him up with a tablet on this mantelpiece, which would be plugged in and permanently on, with which I could remotely pass him messages, "take your pills" etc.

Crucially, he's not going to be able to go into an email account to get to these messages, they would need to be popping up in big writing and basically covering the entire front screen of his tablet. In effect, i'd need to be able to write all over this front screen to pass him day to day messages.

Do you know of an app, or a particular set up I can put in place to do this?

Thanks

Click to expand...

Loads of stuff here: https://srcarecenter.com/article/to...devices-for-seniors-and-their-adult-families/ that would do the trick but they all seem so bleeding expensive.

As others have said some form of remote management tool and just type it into a text file and make full screen in a big font??

TeamViewer or AirDroid would work.

Failing that I'm sure you could just point his web browser on the tablet and there must be something out there that will allow to change the copy on the page. If not I'm sure between the good people of NSC we could write something very basic to do that.