Aging in Place Wearables

ID 108749319 © Leowolfert | Dreamstime.com

Wearables are devices that hang around your neck, are strapped to your wrist like a watch, or are affix edin any fashion to your body or clothing.  These may collect and assemble data for a wide variety of purposes, for your own use, or the use by professionals. For those who see a wearable in a health context, they may be disappointed to learn that some doctors doesn’t seem to care or know what to do with your heart rhythm data, but you can benefit, nonetheless, from tracking your performance (exercise, heart rate), competing with yourself, and feeling the satisfaction from any improvement over time.  Simply, these devices, at a minimum can aid and encourage your efforts to live a more healthy lifestyle: 

• Wearables can measure your heart rate. Tracking heart rate is one of the most basic functions of wrist-worn wearables—and a basic element of tracking includes knowing the target (and maximum) heart rate ranges for your particular age group. The objective is to exercise to the point where your heart is beating at up to 85% of its capacity.  Seniors need to be aware that medications can impact heart rate, and for those starting out, focusing on the lower end of the range is safer.
• Wearables can track your exercise. Are you walking, running, swimming or doing an exercise that devices can detect as motion—and even count, as with steps? Whether you are exercising  to lose or maintain weight, or become or stay fit, the combination of motion and measured heart rate can be compared against goals and even recommended fitness levels. The goals can be entered into a smartphone application, such as Apple Health or Samsung Health, and the Bluetooth-synchronized device coaching feature will buzz and/or display encouragement as you move and as goals are achieved.

Wearables are often protective, safety, or security devices.  Probably the most well-known are devices that provide aid or assistance in the event of a fall.  Fall detection has been a feature of wearable Personal Emergency Response Pendants (or Medical Alerts) for the past decade. Increasingly, these devices automatically provide protection, rather relying upon the wearer to, for example,  press a button. These devices have a built-in accelerometer and gyroscope which are designed to be activated if you fall. These devices sometimes will automatically place a call to emergency services. These developments are attractive to seniors who live in retirement communities, live alone, or spend time alone such as while walking a dog or playing golf.  

Wearables can also help you findd where you’re going, ensure that you can be found by others, and can help prevent the fear and disorientation that comes with feeling lost. We are increasingly dependent on GPS location-tracking as part of mapping and directions. GPS location can be enabled in newer wearables, like Samsung’s or Apple’s. 

Some GPS wearables work independently from a smartphone or work even if the phone is turned off. A GPS-enabled device can be a lifesaver. When enabled and integrated with a service, for example, it enables responders to find your location and display that on a map. And if you lose or misplace the device, its GPS location capability can enable you to find it, similar to the Find my Phone feature.

As technology advances, wearables can provide more fundamental and necessary health information. FOR example, new wearables permit you to perform an Electrocardiogram (ECG). Checking for heart arrythmia is an even newer feature of wearables, and is included in the Apple Watch Series 4 and likely in a future Samsung Galaxy Watch Active. For individuals who are worried about abnormal heart rhythms, or AFib, which mostly affects those age 65+, these devices are useful and comforting. Experts have expressed cautious optimism, noting a high level of accuracy and ease of use.

Smartphone app integration is increasingly not required for these devices to perform capably, but integration can, nonetheless be useful.  For some wearables, the data collection from the device is collected and presented through an application on the smartphone—for example, Samsung Health or MyFitnessPal. The applications can be set up to enable you to be part of a tracking group, for example, comparing results. As with the Apple Watch (which is paired with a smartphone) or UnaliWear’s Kanega Watch (which doesn’t require a smartphone), the watch can be useful by itself—when the phone is turned off or there is no smartphone.

Emergency notifications can alert family, professional caregivers, or emergency services.  Although it may sound sensible to contact 911, those responders have complained about false alerts from accidental or incidental contacts. One firm, Fall Call Solutions, has created an app for the Apple Watch that will contact a screening call center first, as is done by MobileHelp Smart.    If you’re over 65, Apple Watch can notify emergency responders if you fall, as in a recent incident involving an 80-year-old woman.  After the product was launched, however, emergency responders expressed concerns about too many false calls.  The devices must be configured with a set of caregiving responders, which could include family, professional caregivers, or a call center.   That can be set up directly on a device or through the use of an app, like Fall Call’s Elder Check Now.

Wearables can be set up to share information with a doctor. For example, if a person has had heart trouble in the past, they may want the doctor to be informed. One of the concerns about health-related wearables is the role of the health provider. While the device can transmit information to your doctor, does the doctor even want it or know what to do with it?  Increasingly, these devices will become associated with a form of telemedicine, where the data is analyzed in real time, resulting in a doctor contacting you proactively in the event that data raises concern or suggests an emergent health event. 

Although there have been periods of pessimism about the staying power of wearables, most agree that they are here to stay—with a greater role in the future for baby boomers and beyond, whether they reside at home or in a senior living setting. Some think that baby boomers will drive market growth in 2019, with 8 million of those aged 55+ owning a smartwatch by the end of the year. One reason for a surge in adoption has been a drop in prices—some are now under $200. For the older adult, a wearable may help a person who lives alone feel safer knowing that a fall will be detected, or a useful warning will be provided, as in the case of irregular heart rhythms. 

Hearables are recent innovations designed to be more stylish than hearing aids and fit in or around the ear. Each of the functions, such as in-ear amplification, translation, fitness, predictive analytics, are available now, synchronizing activity data with a smartphone.

Smart clothing refers to any clothing item enhanced with some functionality-adding technology, including smart socks, smart shoes, active wear, and even a smart business suit.

Smart glasses may  help the legally blind actually see what’s around them.  Smart glasses can also perform just social or personal functions such as Snapchat smart glasses that can capture photos in real time and upload them to Snapchat.

Technology is providing solutions precisely at a time at which they are most needed.   

This article relies heavily upon "Can wearables help you be healthier and safer?" published on the 

Aging In Place Technology Watch, Industry Market Trends, Research & Analysis.