Dementia and Alexa

[longearedbat]

My fil, who is 91, has recently been diagnosed with altzheimers. He lives alone in an over 60's flat. I think something like Alexa would be useful for him, even just for playing music on demand, telling him the time etc. However, he is stuck in the 50s as regards technology and cannot use a computer or smartphone, and even struggles with his basic mobile.
I suppose I am asking more for technical advise. We can get broadband put in his flat, but can I set it up for him from my tablet? I am not a complete luddite but i cant find the answer to this online. The trouble is so much tech. these days assumes you already have a fair amount of savvy, which i dont!
Has anybody tried this with someone with dementia? How did you get on?

Hi - my parents both have dementia and I thought about Alexa when they were at home but concluded it was not for them.

They had broadband in their house and dad had used a laptop for lots of things before dementia took his skills but the notion of speaking to a device just didn’t seem to work for them. We have Echo in my house and we would play with it when they came to lunch and while they thought it was great, they would never speak to it themselves. If it’s not buried deep in memory, the person just won’t do it once they have dementia. I’m talking about advanced dementia - maybe it’s possible at the earlier stage

Mum has very severe Alzheimer’s and this makes her deeply confused regularly. I ended up thinking that Alexa would frighten her.

Have you looked at the Unforgettable website? They have a dementia friendly music player which may work better for your FIL than Alexa
www.unforgettable.org/unforgettable-music-player-and-digital-radio

My Father in law was the same age and we bought him an Alexa.
He kept forgetting its command name so it wouldn't work, he then got frustrated.

However, he is stuck in the 50s as regards technology and cannot use a computer or smartphone, and even struggles with his basic mobile. It's amazing to realise how life has been transformed. Personal computer didn't happen till the 70s (and even then were used for programming - if you couldn't program, they were useless), basic mobile phones and internet in 90s. So even someone stuck in the 80s would struggle!

My Mum with severe dementia can use Alexa with a little prompting. She asks for the news and it amuses her everyday that they give the weather specific to xxx town. She also plays the radio through it but again needs help with the right words. It also gets called allsorts including just "that thing" it can do allsorts but you have to know the words to use and be able to get yourself to say them, know that it doesn't work so well upside down and not be frightened or paranoid about things listening to you etc

My DF has dementia, still living at home with DM. One of the things that gets my DM down are the relentless, repetitive questions about what day it is, is there football today etc. She wondered aloud the other day whether Alexa would be any good. I don’t have it, but my DSis does.

Interesting to see the different responses on here.

I think I’ll see what deals are available on Black Friday, and give it a go. Be someone else to listen to my DF, and for my DM to talk to, if nothing else!

Your local council might be able to help - they are exploring technology for these issues more and more. At mine, they have a “Smart House” set up to show the different types of technology that can help with different issues. There are door alarms that can alert you if a person with dementia starts to wander; devices to shut the gas off/lock the hob; you can programme Alexa to do medication prompts - all sorts! I don’t know if Alexa will fit your FIL’s needs, but it’s definitely worth a try, and if Alexa doesn’t work then there might be something else that does. The council should be able to help advise. You can also get a vast array of smart tech to help with mobility, if that’s an issue.