Apple has often advertised its range of smartwatches with the tagline: “There’s an Apple Watch for everyone.” The appeal of the Apple Watch is definitely not age limited. In fact, there are numerous reasons why seniors will benefit from wearing an Apple Watch.
Here are some Apple Watch tools that make it a great choice for people of retirement age and beyond.
1. Apple Watch Can Monitor and Send You Alerts About Health Conditions
YourApple Watch can help you monitor numerous health conditions. These include:
For anyone with any health issues, it makes excellent sense to wear a smartwatch. WithApple’s emphasis on wellness as a core part of its business, the Apple Watch would be a wise choice.
In addition to monitoring health conditions, your Apple Watch will send notifications if it detects anything abnormal in its readings. This could alert you that something is wrong and cause you to seek medical help earlier than you might otherwise have.
I can attest to the potentially life-saving benefits of wearing an Apple Watch. When a relative with a history of heart issues received a high heart rate notification from their Apple Watch while attending a big sporting event, they took time out to lower their heart rate. Without their watch, they wouldn’t even have realized they were in danger.
The list of conditions the Apple Watch can monitor develops with every new software and hardware development. Not all watches offer all health features. For example, only Apple Watch Series 8 and later (including the Apple Watch Ultra) offers blood oxygen measuring. Therefore, you should check theApple websiteto compare all models and decide which best suits your needs.
2. Share Your Health Data With Family Members
To accompany the health monitoring tools at your fingertips, Apple Watch offers theHealth Sharingfeature. This allows you to share your health data with up to five family members. If you’re located in the US, you may alsouse the Health app to share data with your doctor.
Sharing health data in the iOS Health app,which records all Apple Watch readings, is straightforward. You can securely share as many metrics as you wish. If you’re managing any health conditions, you don’t need to do it alone. Your loved ones can help, even if they live far away.
Importantly, you may enable the person you’re sharing your data with to receive notifications if you get any important health alerts. This is another potentially life-saving feature for seniors and anyone who cares for them. Your loved ones will be instantly alerted to a possible medical emergency, saving valuable time in getting help.
3. Apple Watch Has Emergency SOS and Fall Detection Features
To accompany Health Sharing alerts, theiOS Emergency SOS feature on your iPhoneand Apple Watch will automatically alert the emergency services without you needing to dial the local number in case you need urgent help. While this benefits everyone regardless of age, it’s also integrated into other iOS and watchOS features to give you and your loved ones extra peace of mind.
One of these is Apple’sFall Detectionfeature. Available on Apple Watch Series 4 or later, this feature is ideal for seniors with illnesses that make them unsteady or at risk of falling. In fact, if the birthdate you enter when setting up your Apple Watch indicates that you’re 55 or older, Fall Detection will be turned on automatically.
You can also manuallyturn on Fall Detection for your Apple Watchin a few simple steps. Once you’ve enabled it, if your Apple Watch detects a hard fall and no movements for about a minute, it will tap your wrist, sound an alarm, and attempt to contact emergency services.
Your Apple Watch must have a cellular connection or have Wi-Fi calling turned on and Wi-Fi coverage available for this to work successfully. However, if you have an iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Pro or later, you can benefit fromApple’s Emergency SOS via Satellite feature,which will also send the notification.
When you first set it up, consider taking a moment toprepare your Apple Watch for emergencies.
4. Peace of Mind With Apple Location Tracking
One of the worst days of my life was when a relative with dementia went missing. Police officers eventually found her wandering around her local neighborhood. It happened before the advent ofApple’s Location Tracking service, Find My. Nowadays, I would be able to locate her myself by using this brilliant feature.
If a senior wears an Apple Watch, their family will be able to track them easily, which could be a game-changer for anyone at risk of wandering off because of any illnesses or conditions that cause confusion.
5. Track and Get Reminders About Your Medications
Since iOS 16, Apple has included Medications within its Health app. This feature lets you track your medicine and get reminders on when to take it.
Tomake the most out of Medications in the Health app, combine it with your Apple Watch. Once you’ve taken a few moments to input the details of the medication you need to take, including the doses and schedules, your Apple Watch will send you a reminder when it’s time for your next pill.
This is a convenient tool for any seniors who are juggling multiple medications. you’re able to make the reminders even more helpful by indicating the medicine’s shape or form and setting a color code for each one when you add the medication to the list.
6. Stay Active Using Apple Watch Activity Challenges
It’s not all about emergencies and illness. One of Apple Watch’s other great benefits is as a fitness and activity tracker. Everyone benefits from staying active, regardless of age. So, set yourself some targets and verify youclose your Apple Watch Activity Ringseach day.
you may even have some fun while achieving your goals. Why notshare your fitness activity using your Apple Watchand set challenges for family members and friends to compete?
7. You Don’t Need to Have an iPhone to Wear an Apple Watch
While some Apple Watch features depend on having an iPhone, it’s not necessary to own both. Apple has aFamily Setup serviceto allow someone to set up an Apple Watch for a family member. The watch user can use their Apple Watch for calls (if it’s a cellular model), messages, and location sharing. The person with the iPhone can manage other Apple Watch capabilities.
So if you’re a senior who hadn’t thought of wearing an Apple Watch because you don’t have an iPhone, maybe it’s worth reconsidering.
Seniors Can Benefit in Many Ways From Wearing an Apple Watch
Wearing an Apple Watch for a senior has so many great benefits that it’s hard to argue against investing in one. You’ll have a terrific health monitoring tool that instantly alerts your family and even emergency services to serious issues. You can set and achieve activity targets and continue to live an independent, active life. In short, it can give you and your loved ones peace of mind that, arguably, money can’t buy.
