If you haven’t been there yourself, you know someone who had to “keep an eye on” a parent, grandparent, aunt or nncle because they didn’t want to be in a retirement home. According the AARP, over 90 percent of those over the age of 65 would prefer to stay in their current residence as they age.

This Aging in Place population will face many changes in health, environment, and life and grow more dependent on the caregivers that support them. For those caregivers, providing help for their aging loved ones is always a challenge. It’s a regiment of calling and in-person visits. It’s not only time-consuming, but there’s an emotional toll as well.

There are solutions for caregivers. From virtually anywhere, caregivers can use a smart phone or tablet to provide immediate solutions in real time with aging in place home monitoring.

Smart home automation provides caregivers with the tools they need to keep the older generation safe in their home. Whether your loved ones have someone come in to look in on them periodically, or if they are your responsibility from miles away, smart home can give caregivers the peace of mind of knowing that their loved ones are protected.

Read on for an excerpt from my book, Join the Smart Home Revolution, to learn more:

“Our elderly loved ones can be wonderful—maybe a little annoying from time to time, but still pretty great. Such a terrific source of stories, good advice, and yummy recipes. Great babysitters, and terrific cheerleaders for children.

As much as we love them, sometimes as they age, our parents and elderly loved ones can be a source of concern. They can get pretty darn stubborn, especially when it comes to staying in their homes. Even when health issues make it unsafe for elderly people to live alone, they don’t always see those dangers. They love their homes and don’t want to leave, especially to go into something like a nursing home or an assisted living community.

Family members don’t always live close to one another. Your parents may be hours away from you, but they don’t want to move and you can’t just up and leave your job to be closer to them. You could hire full-time help, but that can be cost prohibitive. So what to do?

Here again, sensors come in very handy. You can have your loved ones’ home outfitted with a sensor system that will help with their safety and your peace of mind.

For example, let’s say your mother is up by 8 A.M. every morning. It’s such a routine that you could set your watch by it. You can have her bedside set up with a sensor that would go off if she hasn’t gotten out of bed by 8:30. You’ll know that she’s not up, and you can call her if the sensor goes off to make sure she is okay.

Let’s say that your dad needs to take medication at a certain time of day. You could have a sensor placed where the medicine is stored, and have it set to go off if the storage unit isn’t opened by a certain time. This way dad can’t get away with forgetting to take his pills, and you’ll rest easier knowing that his health is protected.

In addition, you could place sensors at places where elderly people might be prone to falls—the toilet, shower, kitchen sink, and at the tops and bottoms of stair cases. If the sensors go off, you’ll know something is wrong, and can call in the appropriate help. Of course, you can get those Life Alert® necklaces for the older generation in your life, but what if they are so incapacitated that they can’t push the button on the necklace? It becomes pretty useless in that case. A sensor eliminates that worry. If your loved one falls, you’ll know it without them having to do a thing.”

Smart home automation offers protection against kitchen accidents as well. Let’s say mom puts something on the stove to cook, and then walks away and forgets about it. Besides the smoke alarm, a sensor in the oven and stove will turn off the appliance so the burning doesn’t continue

Want to know more about how to protect the people who spent a lot of their lives protecting you? Give me a call (973) 316-0678 I would love to chat with you, In the meantime pick up a copy of my book Join the Smart Home Revolution it is full of useful and interesting Smart Home information.