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Caregivers Get Help from Amazon Alexa Care Hub

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wall art Lovin Life for caregivers

According to AARP, 3 out of 4 adults age 50 or older want to stay in their homes as they age. Yet less than 50% anticipate that they will be able to remain in their current residence. We’ve written before about how smart home technology can help loved ones age in place. Now Amazon is introducing a new feature that help aging friends and family members live out their lives at home.

The Care Hub is a free Alexa feature that gives family members or caregivers the ability to “check in” on someone via a connected device. The Care Hub feature provides a high-level summary of a loved one’s recent interactions with Alexa or other connected smart home devices. Before you start thinking that this is a bit too “Big Brother”, please note that the feed is just a generalized view, lacking specific details to maintain privacy.

In addition to showing general activity around the house, caregivers can set up alerts to receive notifications, access other features like Alexa Calling or Drop in, and enable emergency contact calling when a loved one says “Alexa, call for help.”

To give you an example, Care Hub can show the time of a first interaction with an Alexa device each day. Types of actions will be displayed such as requesting music (not the specific songs) or asking for the weather. If a person has  multiple devices, Care Hub will identify which Alexa was activated. An alert can include notification if a loved one hasn’t used their Alexa device for a certain number of hours. As you can see, the goal isn’t for a caregiver to see the full extent of activity – just that there is activity (or not).

Many caregivers and older persons can immediately see the usefulness of this kind of service. Individuals can age in place. Caregivers can have peace of mind. In addition, it can be particularly helpful now that the COVID-19 pandemic is reducing personal interactions.

There are a few limitations. Only one caregiver can access the Care Hub feed and you can only support one person. At this time, the Care Hub service is only available in the United States. Lastly, Alexa calling does not support calls to emergency services numbers like “911”.

There is no cost to use Care Hub and all that is required for set-up is an Echo or Alexa-enabled device and a WiFi connection. Security and privacy are top of mind. This new feature is double-opt in, meaning that both the caregiver and the loved one need to first establish a connection between their Alexa accounts through an invitation process. Again, this isn’t designed to be something sneaky. In addition, the Drop In feature can be disabled if a higher level of privacy is preferred. And family members can delete activity information in the Care Hub feed at any time.

Caregivers are facing considerable challenges during this unprecedented time. Aging loved ones are sympathetic to caregiver restrictions but they also want to age in place. The Alexa Care Hub may be the compromise needed to give everyone in the family a little extra peace of mind.

What We Are UP To – The Music Edition

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music image showing notation

I read an article recently about “Using Music for Self-Care” that was very interesting. I had always heard about theories like the Mozart effect (which I don’t believe is true) but I can definitely see how listening to music can be helpful in stressful situations. While we’re not experiencing any out of the ordinary stress this month, we are listening to a lot of music and it’s been nice. Here’s what else we’ve been up to:

Watching | TwinsthenewTrend

> Tim and Fred Williams are twins who record their reactions to music that they’ve never heard before. I recently discovered them when their reaction to the Phil Collins classic song “In the Air Tonight” went viral. Totally loved it and have been checking out their older videos. I especially liked their reaction to “Dream On” by Aerosmith.  

Geeking | Spotify

> I think one of the reasons that I’ve been enjoying the TwinsthenewTrend videos is because they’ve been listening to a lot of the music that I listened to growing up. The blast from the past is fun. I’ve also found a couple of playlists on Spotify that are filling my need for the oldies: 70s Road Trip and Classic Road Trip Songs. If you have a Spotify account (FREE), check them out.

Loving | Peloton

> Yep, we broke down an bought a Peloton. COVID-19 put our Pilates plans on hold and we really wanted to exercise. So, we looked at all of the money that we would have spent on classes and it quickly justified the expense. One of the things that I’m enjoying about Peloton classes is the music. I’m finding some new artists to enjoy. If you’re considering a Peloton, let me share with you my referral code – 83QXDQ. If you use it, you’ll get $100 to spend toward accessories. I get a little something too. 

Remembering | Halloween

> It’s hard to believe that the holidays are right around the corner. I mentioned last month that we’re working on organizing our garage. Well, in the process we found our Halloween decorations. Frankly, I’m not sure we should put them up. Which is sad, since this is our first Halloween in the new neighborhood. But better to be safe. The good news is that we will be able to do our annual viewing of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and sing along to the music. 

Planning | Going to a show?

> Speaking of holidays, one of the things we love to do in the fall is go to the theater. And I’m not sure that’s going to happen this year. Last year, we were able to see both Randy Rainbow and Lindsey Stirling in concert. (Not together, separate shows.) Both were fabulous! Now we’re eyeing the fall new movie releases and realizing that we might be catching a lot of shows when they come out on video. 

Feeling | Ready for Autumn 

> My Pinterest page is filled with soup recipes! While I’m enjoying salad season, I can’t wait for soup season. We discovered some soup mixes from King Arthur Baking right at the end of last winter. They were easy to make and very tasty. I’m looking forward to making some soup as soon as the weather drops below the 90s. 

Working On | Estate Planning

> We’re taking our own advice and updating our wills and health directives. This process is a lot less stressful when you have the time to think about and discuss your final wishes. 

Reading | “Life” by Keith Richards

> I saw an article in Rolling Stone that ranked the best musician autobiographies of all time. One of my favorites is “Life” by Keith Richards. I’m not even a huge Rolling Stones fan and I loved this book. If you’re looking for a nice read to finish your summer, this might be it. 

What’s UP with you? Let us know what music you’re listening to these days. 

What We Are UP To: Quarantine Life Edition – #Unretirement Project

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wild wall art during quarantine life

Like many of you, Keith and I are still sheltering in place this month. But we’re making the best of our quarantine life. I know, it’s not really a quarantine. Here are a few of the things we’ve been doing during this wild time. 

Watching | Zombieland 1 & 2

> I’m sure this movie choice sounds a bit offbeat given what’s going on, but they are really fun movies. Neither of us are into scary or gory films. Don’t want to give away the storyline, but I will say that I loved the list of rules for surviving the zombie apocalypse. Especially number 32. You can look it up. 

Reading | AARP Memory Activity Book

> I bought this book a while ago because I wanted to see what types of activities were being encouraged to stimulate our brains. I believe brain health is important, so I was curious. The book contains dozens of individual activities that a person could do on their own (like creating a song playlist) or with others (playing a team sport). Even if you’re not dealing with memory loss, there are some fun things in the book to occupy your time. 

Remembering |Great Recession

> No, I’m not looking back on the Great Recession with fond memories. But with all of the talk about recession these days, we are looking back at what happened to see if there are some lessons that we need to remember or ideas we should incorporate into our lifestyle sooner versus later. Better to plan ahead.

Working On | Hanging Pictures

> Living the quarantine life is giving us the time to do a few small projects around the house like hanging pictures. We did a few right after moving in to make the house feel more homey but it’s time to finish the project. When you’re spending more time than usual inside, it is nice to have beautiful things on the walls. 

Feeling | A bit of FOMO

> FOMO is an acronym for “fear of missing out”. It’s often associated with the anxiety of not doing something such as going to the hip new restaurant or buying the latest trendy item. In our quarantine life, I think it’s attached to making the latest culinary trend like Dalonga Coffee, a South Korean drink made from instant coffee and sugar served over milk. It was tasty and a fun distraction to make. 

Planning | With Blueberries

> One of the benefits to living in North Florida is the number of blueberry farms in the area. And we love blueberries! The season just started, and we were able to get a summer’s worth of blueberries. Good thing they freeze well. LOL! That being said, I’m on the hunt for really good blueberry recipes. Quarantine life is the perfect time to try then out. 

Loving | Pigs in a Duvet Cover

> When we lived in Cincinnati, one of our favorite places was Skyline Chili. We were very fortunate when we moved to Fort Lauderdale that they had not one but two Skyline Chili franchises. Well, now that we’re in Gainesville, we’re not as fortunate. Luckily, we can buy Skyline online. We saw this recipe for ‘pigs in a duvet cover’ and decided to try it with some mustard, Skyline chili, onions, and cheese. OMGosh, it’s a deconstructed cheese coney! Delish. 

Geeking | Fiasco

> A favorite podcast of mine is Slate’s Slow Burn. It’s a well-researched look at significant events in our history. The original host of the podcast, Leon Neyfakh, has recently gone out on his own and created another podcast documentary called Fiasco. I’m listening to season one about the contested 2000 election between Al Gore and George W. Bush. If you enjoy politics and the news, check it out. 

What’s UP with you? How are you passing the time in quarantine? 

Social Distancing: 5 New Things You Can Do

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bar sign saying it's 5 o'clock somewhere for the purpose of social distancing

Depending on where you live, you’ve probably been practicing social distancing for at least a week or two. Maybe longer. It’s important for us to help flatten the curve and I’d like to believe that, by now, everyone knows that. 

But let’s be realistic. Social distancing is hard. Keith and I work from home, socialize very little, and even we think this is hard. We’re cutting back on the few things that we enjoyed going out and doing. So, I can only imagine what others who are used to much more active social lives are feeling right now. 

Like many, when we first heard about social distancing, it was an opportunity to dust off the to-do list and tackle some projects. We cooked at home. Started organizing the garage. Watched a few movies we’ve been looking forward to seeing. After that, a little bit of social distancing boredom sets in. We still need to stay at home but now we need some new activities to occupy our time and our mind. So, I’ve come up with a list of five things you might want to consider working on while you’re still at home.

  1. Take a MOOC (massive open online course). If you’re not familiar with MOOCs, these are free online courses taught by some of the best universities in the world. In the past, I’ve taken a course on the science of happiness from Yale. Keith and I just finished one from Harvard on meteorology. Think about a topic that you’ve been saying that you want to learn more about – like investing – and see if there’s a course available. BTW – there is an interesting financial markets course offered by Yale.
  1. Update your social media accounts. This is the perfect time to update your social media profiles, avatars, etc. Think of it as a social media audit. Be sure to also review the privacy settings for each platform as well. In addition, if you’ve been waiting for some free time to learn newer social media platforms like Instagram, this could also be a good time to slowly ease into it. That could lead to discovering even more activities such as Instagram’s “Photo A Day” – which is very fun.  
  1. Research the candidates running for office in 2020. Oh, and sign up for a mail ballot. For some, the last thing you might want to do right now is pay attention to the news but let me toss out another point of view. Now is when we get to see how political candidates handle the tough times. We get to see if they really act effectively and in our best interest. In addition, it will only take a few moments of your time, but find your supervisor of elections website and sign up for mail ballots. That way you know that you will be able to vote in the primaries and in the general election. 
  1. Attend a virtual event. Everything I’ve mentioned so far you can do on your own. If you’re missing human interaction, consider attending – or even hosting – a virtual event. You can sign up for a free account from Zoom and coordinate a virtual coffee meeting or happy hour. Netflix has a “party” feature where you can watch shows or movies with friends. Social distancing doesn’t mean we can’t see our friends, we’re just going to have to wait a little longer to be in the same room with them. 
  1. Stay healthy. Finally, don’t forget about your own health and wellbeing. I know that in many places, we can’t go to our hair stylist or a day spa. Keith and I have found it challenging to get fresh fruit and vegetables at the grocery store. Gyms, health clubs, and exercise studios are closed. But that doesn’t mean we’re not trying new foods and new ways to get activity. We just discovered an app called “The Walk” (available for Apple and Android devices) that coordinates activity with a story about saving the world just by walking. Oh, and you will ultimately be walking the length of the United Kingdom. 

My hope is that today’s post offers a bit of creative inspiration to keep your social distancing activities interesting. This is a tough time – even for a mega introvert like me. If you have some tips or resources for keeping things from getting too boring, share them in the comments. We’ve love to hear them.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby just off Duval Street in Key West, FL

What We Are UP To – Working From Home Edition

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Atlanta airport artwork clean hands and cover sneeze when not working from home

Given the COVID-19 news, many employers are asking employees to start working from home right now. I realize this could be a PITA, but it could also be an opportunity to test drive what working from home is like. If being a freelancer or consultant is part of your unretirement strategy, use this time – however long it may be – to see what you think about working from home.

Keith and I have been working from home for over a decade. We’ve learned a lot about how we like to work in the process. So, here’s what we’ve been up to this month along with a few tips about working from home. 

Reading | About Social Distancing

> Until recently, I had never heard the term “social distancing”. Now it seems to be all we’re reading about. And it’s one of the reasons that employees are being asked to work from home. I found this article on The Atlantic titled, “The Dos and Don’ts of Social Distancing” to be very interesting and helpful.

Feeling | The Need for Balance

> One of the biggest challenges of working from home is creating balance between your work life and your home life. It’s so much easier when you work in an office to leave the work behind. Find a way to shut the door – both literally and figuratively – to your work and enjoy being at home. 

Watching | Jumanji

> I’ve mentioned before that we seem to be gravitating toward funny movies lately. We rented Jumanji and Jumanji: The Next Level starring Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan. Very funny and a nice message about the importance of teamwork. 

Remembering | To Practice Self-Care

> I’ll admit it. Sometimes the news can be overwhelming. Especially when we’re working from home and can tune into it all day long. It’s important to take breaks, have a nutritious lunch, and practice self-care. And it’s okay to take 5 minutes to solve The New York Times Mini Crossword then go back to work. 

Loving | My Herman Miller Chair

> Another aspect of working from home that’s worth mentioning is your posture. I’m very fortunate to have a Herman Miller Embody chair. My back thanks me every day for it. When you’re working from home, find a place where you can be productive and kind to your body. Ergonomics matters.

Working On | Cleaning Everything

> One of the nice things about Gainesville, FL is all of the trees. Unfortunately, it also means we’re in the middle of pollen season. So in between work, we’re tackling a few cleaning projects. That’s a nice thing about working from home. It’s easy to throw in a load of laundry or set up the Roomba while you’re answering emails. 

Geeking | Silicone Muffin Tins

> Since I haven’t been traveling much lately, we’ve also been using our time to do some meal prep. One thing in particular we made was chicken stock. I like to freeze stock in muffin tins and then just use what I need. We purchased a silicone muffin tin and it’s fabulous! I have no idea why we didn’t buy one sooner.

Planning | Regular Walks

> Last month, I mentioned that we were starting up Pilates again. And we love it. But with all the COVID-19 talk, we decided to take a break from going to a group workout space. But we’ve discovered that we can take a lap in our neighborhood and it’s exactly one mile. So far, we’ve walked a mile every day. 

What’s UP with you? Any questions about working from home? Let us know and we’ll try to get some answers. 

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in Atlanta, GA

Aging In Place: 7 Things You Can Do to Prepare Your Home

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fenced yard in New Orleans for aging in place

When Keith and I were making the decision to move to Gainesville, Florida, we also talked about staying put in South Florida and renovating our current home. It was the live version of “Love It or List It” with David Visentin and Hilary Farr. LOL! Deciding whether to stay and renovate or move is a big decision. Especially when you consider aging in place.

Ultimately, we decided to move. But as we were building our current home, we kept in mind that this was going to be a place where we wanted to age comfortably. This played a role in many of the decisions we made during the construction process. 

As you talk about your aging in place plans, think about your home. It could be done as part of a renovation to the home you have right now. Or building something new. Maybe a bit of both – buying a new home and then renovating it. Regardless, here are a few things we learned along the way when it comes to aging comfortably at home.

1. Appliances: I’m specifically talking about refrigerators, washers, and dryers. I know the current trend is to have the refrigerator freezer on the bottom. But that means bending over all the time! Same with front load washers and dryers. Think about how much bending you want to do all the time and are there options to have the latest while saving you some back pain.

2. Bathrooms: Three things to consider: adult height vanities (again, be kind to your back), “comfort height” toilets, and shower bars. If you’re not ready to look at shower bars in your bathroom, it is possible to have them pre-blocked during construction. Then that support structure can be utilized later. 

3. Ceiling Height: We love high ceilings. They can make small rooms look very spacious. But changing out light bulbs and smoke alarm batteries can mean climbing very tall ladders. At some point, we must decide how many times we want to climb up on ladders when we’re 60, 70, or older. I hate climbing on ladders now and want to do even less of it when I’m older. 

4. Drawers and cabinets: Just like ceiling heights, tall cabinets look fabulous. But depending on how tall those cabinets are, it might involve using a step stool to reach those top shelves. And our builder told us to focus on drawer pulls versus knobs. The idea being to minimize the amount of gripping we would need as we age. And as lovely as some drawer pulls look, they also suggested steering away from ones that might accidentally grab or snag clothing.

5. Flooring: This is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it can be helpful to have all wood or tile floors so there are no thresholds to possibly trip over. But then again, if we put rugs on the wood or tile floors, we run the risk of tripping over them. I wish I had an answer. It’s definitely an important conversation to have. 

6. Landscaping: I love beautiful landscaping. I’m not a fan of yardwork. Keith likes yardwork. He finds it cathartic. We spent a lot of time talking about how much yard would give us the beautiful part we love without being a huge burden. While Keith loves doing the yardwork today, there might be a time when he doesn’t want to, and he shouldn’t feel guilty about it.

7. Lighting: Our home in South Florida was filled with natural light. We rarely turned the lights on during the daytime. Yeah, in the evening we turned lights on but not during the day. Gainesville is different. The natural light isn’t the same. Lighting is important because we need it to read, clean, etc. Not only do we need to plan for built in lighting, but we need to consider additional lighting in terms of lamps, night lights, outdoor lighting, etc.

I don’t know that anyone should duplicate what Keith and I did on our home. But I put this list together so you can have the same conversations and make the right decisions for you. I’d like to think that most of us want to enjoy our homes as we age. That means planning for both form and function when it comes to aging in place.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of New Orleans, LA

Older Drivers: Learning Technology Can Extend To Your Car

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drivers and their old cars on the streets of Havana, Cuba

At some point, Keith and I are going to have to think about getting a new car. Years ago as drivers, we became a one-car household. And our current car is over 15 years old. Having a reliable vehicle is important so we shouldn’t wait until we have to buy a car.

But you can see where I’m going with this. Today’s automobiles have a lot of technology! Our old car has a GPS system. Which of course we don’t use because it’s easier and more accurate to use our phones and Google Maps. But 15 years ago, GPS technology was fancy and a luxury! Since we tend to keep cars for a while, it’s important that we get the right technology that’s going to help us have a better driving experience. And what I mean by that is drive more safely.

If you’re not aware, AARP has a 90-minute self-guided online workshop about today’s smarter vehicles. It covers technologies like assistive parking systems, blind spot warning systems for drivers, and crash mitigation systems. The purpose of the workshop is to help people understand what these technologies do (and don’t do) so we can make educated decisions about the types of technologies we want to include in our vehicles.

As we age, one of the things that remains important to our wellbeing is having the ability to still get around. I think it’s fair to say that we don’t want to have to rely on people to drive us around for errands, etc. While those activities aren’t the most exciting, they do represent being mobile. And I’m sure we want to be independent as long as we can.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) talks about how older drivers need to be aware of the changes that happen to our driving skills as we age. Falls and motor vehicle crashes are the two leading causes of injury and death in older adults. The good news is that the latest technologies can help. They’re not designed to be a replacement for our driving skills, but they can offer assistance. If you know about them and you know how to use them properly.

While we’re talking about driving, there are other resources out on the Interwebs that can help you with your driving skills as you age.

  • AAA has a Senior Driving site which includes each state’s licensing laws, a driving health check-up, and how to have a conversation with an older adult about their driving.
  • The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration offers something similar to AAA with videos and resources to support older drivers including how certain medical conditions can have an impact on driving abilities.

Having a conversation about driving is very difficult. Many of us have been driving for decades. Maybe we haven’t had a traffic ticket in years. That doesn’t mean we can let our guard down about our driving skills – or those of other drivers on the road. And when it comes time to replace our current vehicles, we need to understand the latest automobile technologies so we buy features that make sense for our situation.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of Havana, Cuba