Wednesday, March 29, 2006
DON'T STAY HOME WITHOUT IT (Commentary)
by Dr. Don Rose
My mom is in her late eighties now, hard for me to believe. Of course, due to her advancing age, I have been thinking more and more about her protection and safety, especially since she lives in South Florida (or, as we like/hate to call it, Hurricane Central).
I have been using the Internet to find and research ideas and services designed to help protect her; if I could only get her to use the Web (or a PC for that matter), she could use her spare time to stay home and discover these great resources for herself. (Frankly, I am so used to the Internet now, I don't see how anyone can stay home and be without it; then again, I have to keep reminding myself that when my mom was a wee lass she was just getting used to horseless carriages.) In fact, I believe that "senior searching" will be the great outsourcing trend of the next decade; I mean, who has more hours available to surf the Web than seniors with voluminous free time, living in the land of sun and surf?
But all seriousness aside (apologies, Steve Allen), I also think my dear mother is a good candidate for a medical alarm system. The way they typically work is that a subscriber to the alarm service wears a little device around the neck, and pushes its button if something bad happens (like a fall) and they can't reach a phone. Help is then sent out to the home.
This sounds like a great option to explore. And I have the perfect slogan to help sell "home alone" seniors on this kind of protection service: "Don't Stay Home Without It!"
My mom is in her late eighties now, hard for me to believe. Of course, due to her advancing age, I have been thinking more and more about her protection and safety, especially since she lives in South Florida (or, as we like/hate to call it, Hurricane Central).
I have been using the Internet to find and research ideas and services designed to help protect her; if I could only get her to use the Web (or a PC for that matter), she could use her spare time to stay home and discover these great resources for herself. (Frankly, I am so used to the Internet now, I don't see how anyone can stay home and be without it; then again, I have to keep reminding myself that when my mom was a wee lass she was just getting used to horseless carriages.) In fact, I believe that "senior searching" will be the great outsourcing trend of the next decade; I mean, who has more hours available to surf the Web than seniors with voluminous free time, living in the land of sun and surf?
But all seriousness aside (apologies, Steve Allen), I also think my dear mother is a good candidate for a medical alarm system. The way they typically work is that a subscriber to the alarm service wears a little device around the neck, and pushes its button if something bad happens (like a fall) and they can't reach a phone. Help is then sent out to the home.
This sounds like a great option to explore. And I have the perfect slogan to help sell "home alone" seniors on this kind of protection service: "Don't Stay Home Without It!"
