An Amazon Alexa feature may be helpful for seniors living independently.

As people age, their risk for a variety of illnesses and accidents increases.

Should an accident or medical emergency occur, the dangers are severe, especially for seniors living alone.

They have no one around to hear their cries for help or witness an injury.

According to a recent The Business Standard article titled “Amazon adds custom alerts to Alexa Together caregiver service,” adult children of seniors often worry over the health and well-being of their aging parents.

Alexa Together provides services to specifically benefit seniors living alone.

Even when adult children check in regularly, they can lose crucial response time in the event of a crisis.

To assuage this fear and provide more immediate support, Amazon has released a subscription service for their Alexa devices.

The Alexa Together is a voice activated home assistant and able to control things from music to air temperature in a house.

The new Alexa Together subscription is specifically designed to provide emergency support to seniors.

What does the service include?

The Alexa Together allows for seniors to access professional Urgent Response agents with just their voice by stating, “Alexa, call for help.”

With compatible sensors, falls can also be detected.

Users can also enable custom alerts and reminders.

These can include turning on bedroom lights at a specified time in the morning or opening sensor-equipped medicine cabinets.

Custom alerts can be accessed and activated through the Alexa Appellant “More” section.

At least one Echo device is necessary for the person receiving support.

There is an option to add up to 10 additional friends or family members to the Circle of Support for the independent senior.

The device was created the during the pandemic because many seniors and their loved ones became even more isolated.

Although many people have concerns about privacy, Amazon claims the Alexa has multiple layers of protection against privacy concerns.

One of these protections is the ability to limit or revoke permission to information in the activity feed.

Alexa Together allows customers to sign up for a free trial.

After the free trial period, the customers will be automatically charged either $199 per year or $19.99 per month according to the chosen plan.

Although an Alexa may not be a comfortable option for every household, the new feature could provide peace of mind to families who embrace Amazon and its offerings.

Reference: Business Standard (Nov. 15, 2022) “Amazon adds custom alerts to Alexa Together caregiver service”