Tag Archives: Apps

Technology for seniors: 10 types of apps you can benefit from

October 7, 20193-bottom, Community Health, Education, Health, How-To's, Senior LivingApps, technologyJoanne

Technology can seem overwhelming to those who didn’t grow up with it, and too often seniors give up on trying to understand new advancements. While it’s true that adapting to technology doesn’t come as naturally to seniors as it does to younger generations, there are a lot of benefits of technology that you should know about. One example is apps, a downloadable application that can be used on a phone or tablet.

1. Healthcare apps

Seniors can use apps to access healthcare information faster. Many healthcare facilities and doctors use apps to create patient portals and upload your medical information for you to view. Doctors can also have chat lines to be available after office hours for emergency medical questions.

Some healthcare apps even allow you to fill prescriptions online, saving you a phone call or doctor’s visit when you need medications refilled on short notice. You can also use a health app to monitor symptoms of chronic conditions.

Apps to check out:

2. Rideshare apps

Ridesharing apps allow you to get a ride without needing a car yourself. These apps will share your location with a certified driver who will pick you up and take you where you need to go for a small fee. No parking needed!

These apps are great for seniors because if you don’t have a car or don’t feel comfortable driving someplace you can have a source of transportation.

Apps to check out:

3. Social media apps

Social media apps are some of the most popular among people of all ages. While you may have a Facebook account on your computer, it can be a great asset to have the app downloaded on your phone or tablet as well. Then you can easily see photos, posts, and updates from friends and family.

Staying connected to people is an important part of senior health. Socialization is a big part of ensuring that your cognitive functions continue to operate healthily as you age. Social media apps can help you keep in contact with people, as well as sharing your own thoughts and events.

Apps to check out:

4. Learning apps

As mentioned above, finding ways to help keep your brain functions healthy is an important aspect of maintaining your cognitive and memory health. In order to help, there are apps specifically made to challenge your brain and improve your mental functions. You can learn new skills, thought patterns, and languages through apps, and most can be explored for free.

Apps to check out:

5. Food delivery apps

Let’s face it: grocery shopping is a chore at any age. However, it becomes especially difficult as a senior to find the time and energy to drive to the store, find everything you need, get it up on the checkout line, carry your bags to the car, haul them all inside, and put everything away. So why not use apps to cut out some of these steps?

Grocery delivery apps like Shipt and other food delivery apps can take all the travel time out of finding the foods you need to stay energized and healthy.

Apps to check out:

6. Reminder apps

From simple slips to more serious reminders, it’s important to have a system in place to help us remember when something important comes up. Apps can help with sound and vibration notifications that capture our attention. Different apps have features that may be better for your memory, so play around to find one that fits your needs!

Apps to check out:

7. TV and movie apps

It’s the Golden Age of Television, and you don’t want to miss a minute! There are so many different television and movie watching opportunities, so having the ability to watch your favorite programs from anywhere is a great benefit of app technology.

Apps to check out:

8. Reading apps

If watching television isn’t your go-to activity, there are still plenty of ways to find entertainment with reading apps. Whether you pay for a monthly subscription with Amazon Kindle, or want to borrow library books to read online, there’s an app for you! You can even listen to books through Audible, which reads books out loud so you can hear your favorite story while doing other tasks.

Apps to check out:

9. Gaming apps

If you still want more entertainment, there are an abundance of gaming apps that you can try out. Some are puzzle based, which can help build cognitive functions, some are played against other people, and some are just great for passing time.

No matter what type of games you like to play, there are apps available for you. These apps are so popular that they have an entire tab under your app store to search within! Take a look and see which apps are going to provide you with the most fun.

10. Music apps

Music is one of nearly everyone’s favorite pastimes, and is especially great for seniors. As with other forms of entertainment, there are more options available now than ever before. And, with the help of music apps, you don’t need to have any equipment beyond a phone or tablet to enjoy all your favorite songs.

Apps to check out:

For almost anything you can think of, there is an app that can help. While technology may seem overwhelming, getting some help from a younger family member or friend to really understand tools like apps can make technology a great addition to every senior’s life!

Reprinted with permission from Vista Springs Assisted Living.

6 Apps Seniors Should Be Using

February 19, 20193-bottom, Citizen Journalism, Community Health, Health, Senior Living, Tech TrendsApps, technology, Vista Springs Assisted LivingJoanne

By Vista Springs Assisted Living

The stereotype that all seniors are technophobes, or just less able to understand technology, is simply not true–at least, not for most people. In fact, many companies are designing technology with specifically for the needs and wants of aging adults in mind. One of the biggest industries catering to seniors is the app industry for smart devices. The market is chock-full of limitless applications and possibilities: there are apps for entertainment, health and well-being, and even apps that are just handy to have in your pocket. Though the rapid adoption of technology can be confusing, many seniors have found that with the right repertoire of apps, life can be easier and more interesting.

Right now, there are tens of thousands of apps on the market and more coming out daily. Trying to find the right app can feel like trying to find a needle in the haystack: overwhelming, near impossible, and tedious way to spend the day.

To make it a little easier, here are six apps that we think seniors should have on their phones and tablets.

1. Park ‘n’ Forget

We’ve all experienced the confusion of not being able to find our cars when we come out of a building at some point or other. Using this app allows you to avoid the hassle of walking around a vast parking lot or garage looking for your car. You’ll never forget where you parked. Plus, Park ‘n’ Forget does more than remembering the location of your vehicle; it also monitors the amount of time spent. Gone are the days of having parking tickets due to expired meters. Here’s how it works: when leaving your car in a parking deck, pick the color or number associated with the deck level to pinpoint your location.

2. Lumosity

As we age, we become more susceptible to diseases that affect memory, such as Alzheimer’s and other dementias. One way to keep your brain sharp is by exercising it regularly. Learning and brain training apps like Lumosity is a great tool available to stay mentally active. Designed by neuroscientists, Lumosity is proven to benefit memory recall and information retention. The app cleverly disguises its memory improvement objectives by using hundreds of well-designed games and puzzles.

Another app designed to function similarly is CogniFit Brain Fitness. This app works to improve cognitive abilities, such as memory and concentration. What makes CogniFit Brain Fitness different from Lumosity is that it is adaptive to your knowledge. The app adapts each game’s difficulty to your profile and gives you recommendations based on your results.

3. Lyft

Apps such as Lyft and Uber are valuable for seniors to have in their app arsenal. With ride share apps, both service and payment transactions are consolidated into one digital location. In addition, most transportation apps even offer customization options. For example, Uber allows you choose from different sized vehicles to accommodate the number of people in your party. For seniors looking for ways to stay independent, transportation that’s convenient and easy is a must.

4. Shipt

Grocery delivery services are growing in popularity. For seniors, they’re another way to reclaim independence. One of the most popular grocery delivery services right now is the Shipt app. Using Shipt is easy: after you’ve signed up for a membership, open the Shipt app on your phone or desktop. Then, select your items, choose a payment option, pick a delivery time, and place your order. What makes them unique is they’ll unpack your groceries and put them away, and the groceries are from the stores you love.

5. Netflix

If you’re a movie lover, you’ll love the Netflix app. For a reasonable price, you have access to hundreds of your television shows, movies, and documentaries from basically anywhere. Netflix is also producing a number of noteworthy original series. You might find using this app is more valuable than having cable. A bonus feature of the app is it can be used on multiple devices. Many seniors find the mobility of this app useful during workouts or travel.

6. Blood Pressure Monitor

There are a variety of apps available for monitoring health. An app to consider adding to your phone is The Blood Pressure Monitor. You’ll have the ability to track your blood pressure and weight over time without having to call your doctor or rummage through old records. The Blood Pressure Monitor app also provides statistical information, periodic health reminders, and allows you to export data. This is an ideal function if you want to share it with your health care provider.

Harnessing technology for all of its capabilities isn’t just for the younger generations. Seniors are also capable of embracing all the possibilities that the digital age has to offer. With that in mind, apps are a great starting point for enhancing senior living. By equipping your phone with these helpful apps, people of all ages can benefit from a little extra independence and enjoyment in their lives.

Reprinted with permission from Vista Springs Assisted Living.

Technologically Fit

October 29, 2015Citizen Journalism, How-To's, Tech TrendsApps, Deidre Doezema-Burkholder, Iphone, Laptop, Memory storage, TabletJoanne

By: Deidre Doezema-Burkholder

My sister-in-law confuses me. She likes to run…without music. I do not understand how she is able to do it. I must have music in my ear when I’m attempting to run, jog, exercise. I have used several different apps in the past to help get myself in better fitter shape.

Just as I’ve used different apps I’ve also had different products too.

Before I had a piece of technology to help it was the classic pencil and paper. Log your food and log your work out. Then I got an iPod Touch and my world changed. All of a sudden I had apps that would help me. Log your food in this app. Watch how to do weights on this app. Track your bike ride on this app. Apps, glorious apps, everywhere! Then I realized, as I was losing the pounds on myself, my iPod was starting to become bloated.

I see a lot of mobile devices in my line of work. People mention that after a while their device starts to feel slow. Sometimes it is due to age, but 8 out of 10 times their devices is bloated with data.

For example, if you have an iPhone 6 that has 16GB of data storage, a few of those gigabytes are set aside right away for the software to run your phone. So now that brings us down to about 12GB of space. That is still a lot if you maintain the space properly.

Devices work best when they have breathing room. I usually recommend a minimum of 2GB of free space. Photos and videos take up a lot of room. A LOT OF ROOM. It is probably one of the things I see the most; 600 photos or more taking up space. Out of those 600 photos, probably only 120 of them are actually wanted.

Cleaning up your photos gives back precious space. Delete them from the phone or what I like to do is download them into my computer and delete them there, I find it to be faster that way.

Music can clog up your memory as well. When is the last time you took a look through your play list? This is another thing I try to keep up on. I actively keep 3 playlists on my phone. One for the gym and two for the car. With the addition of iTunes radio and other music streaming services you may not realize that you are not using your playlist anymore. If you’re not using them, get them off the device!

Then there are apps. As I write to you today, I have 50 apps on my phone. I like to review the apps on my phone every couple of months. There are apps I’m more likely to use in the summer than the winter. If I’m going on vacation I have more travel apps on my phone than when I’m just doing my usual business. Sure there are a lot of apps that you use frequently, and I’m not saying you have to take things down to a bare minimum, but I’m suggesting that maybe you don’t need to have every app on there. I use a guideline I made up myself. If I haven’t used the app in about 1 month, then I don’t need it on my phone.

Also a reminder, all of this memory clogging is true not just for our mobile devices but for our actual computers too. Your laptop or desktop machine store massive amounts of data.

Quick! When was the last time you went through and deleted emails? Not just the spam or the junk but emails. Imagine if all those emails were printed out and lying around the house. Can you see that in your house? The nice thing is that usually with your computer you have the option of upgrading your hard drive to add more space. Your computer likes some breathing room just like you.

Our phones, and our computers, are a machine, just like our body, and it needs to be taken care of to run at its peak. Sure, on vacation we like to let ourselves go a little bit and enjoy the trip – taking pictures and downloading new apps – but we don’t live everyday life that way. Watch what you put into your phone and make sure to trim the fat when it’s needed!

Deidre owns and operates Organisum: Technology Services, a business serving the West MI area. In her free time she likes to hike & bike local trails with friends and family when she isn’t pinning, instagram’ing or Netflix’ing.