How The AirBolt Trackers Gave Us Peace of Mind
Every year, the amount of seniors choosing to live independently grows. Seniors are embracing the idea of getting more in-home help and even choosing to use new technology to aid in living happy and healthy lives in their own environments. The AirBolt family of products has helped me navigate this with my parents, allowing me to worry less about my elderly family living on their own over an hour away.
There is a rise in people living with dementia and Alzheimers, which is expected to rise over the next few decades. This rise, combined with cost of living increases and limited housing options, means that thinking about how to prolong independent living is something a great majority of adults will have to do.
There are many devices out there that improve the lives of seniors, and GPS trackers, item finders, and security devices are essential. It’s imperative that a conversation about these technologies must be had with any seniors living alone or experiencing the onset of any health issues. Once they consent to use technology to track themselves and their things, you can start looking for choices. If your loved ones are comfortable with smartphones, this can increase your options. Mum is already a smart-watch user for my family, which is great for alerting us if she falls and for calling emergency services.
For now, we mostly have to deal with those little “senior moments”, such as forgetting to grab her wallet or misplacing a tablet. The AirBolt Card has been very helpful. We stuck cards in wallets and attached one to the tablet case. The AirBolt App is straightforward to use. We’ve put it on their home screens, so all they need to do is open the app, click on the device they are looking for and hit “find”. As the AirBolt app allows families to share devices on their own smartphones, it means that there is a level of autonomy that remains in the hands of our loved ones. They don’t need to call us to find anything, and if we notice something is lost, we can find it without embarrassing anyone who lost their wallet yet again.
Recently, my mum decided to tour Outback Australia. It was a hybrid tour, some of it was in a group, and some were self-led. We kitted her and her friend out with AirBolt Smart Locks for their bus and train trips, and they loved them. They said they felt much more secure being on their own and knowing that knowing no one could quickly riffle through their bags left on their transportation while they were out on tour. Once, an uncharged mobile phone led to a little bit of panic, but they remembered they had a little backup button code they set up themselves. They were also thrilled at the attention they received for being very tech-savvy seniors!
For seniors with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, as well as other conditions that make them prone to wandering, AirBolt also makes a GPS tracker that uses a worldwide cellular network to pinpoint in real time where your loved ones have gone. In many situations, this is an absolute lifesaver. The AirBolt GPS is super small and very lightweight. It doesn’t even look like a typical GPS tracker, which makes it very discreet. Many people in their earliest stages of dementia or sickness refuse to wear a “senior” device because it is embarrassing to need extra help. The AirBolt GPS looks like a key fob and not a medical device.
One of the best features of the AirBolt family of devices is how easy they are to use. Once we had our seniors set up their cards and locks and showed them how the AirBolt App worked, they were off and running. Despite the initial qualms that our mum had about her kids tracking her, she realised the freedom the technology was. We don’t have to worry about Mum, and she felt empowered that she took steps to ensure her own safety. The AirBolt has given us incredible peace of mind.
