Fitbit for elderly/senior

[Shentiex]

Hi!

I am a big fan of Fitbit gear. I bought a Charge 2 for my elderly father. He has many medical problems but most importantly heart issues and Alzheimer's. I use the charge 2 to monitor his heart rate, and it helped me to assess a critical situations where my dad needed to go to the hospital. 

My suggestion is that maybe Fitbit could make a like geared more to older generations. Something very simple to use. Pergaps things with reminders to take medications, and maybe something that can somehow notify someone else if they have an extreme high or low heart rate. I know there are trackers geared to this kind of thing, but I know and trust Fitbit. If Fitbit had something geared to older people I would absolutely buy it for my father.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject and updated label

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @Shentiex, nice idea. This sounds good, it might help a lot of elderly who takes specific medications. 

[Ksavo]

This is a great idea, my husbands grandma gets low pulse causing dizziness which has resulted in falls. It would be nice to have it alert to one of our phones when she’s in a low range. Oxygen levels would also be a nice option. 

[Kren51]

This would actually be a wanderguard that has a watch and tells the location of the senior, if they fall etc. in a stylish Fitbit version.

My mother just ended up with a wanderguard from assisted living, I was horrified, it's bulky and ugly looking nothing at all like my Fitbit. I figure you can do so much better than this so called medical device. You could sell it to assisted living but also to family caregivers.

Your Fitbit's already count steps, sleep and heart rate, just add in the locater and possibly an alarm and a device that measures if they fall and you (we) will be set.

Thanks for viewing.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @Kren51! Great suggestion, thanks for sharing your feedback. I've moved it into a similar request. Post a comment or click on the thumbs-up to show your support.

[Johnbkiii]

The new Sense seems like a good option, but I need to know if the gps would give track my parents without a smartphone being nearby. They don’t use smartphones so I’m hoping to use the watch to keep track of them. 

[askmrhp]

The app should include movment , user adjustable user exercises ,reminders for health and safety.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @askmrhp, thanks for explaining why you would like to have the option to see an specific app and stats for elderly people. Thanks for sharing your feedback. I've moved it into a similar request.  A lot of users are asking for this option, I hope we receive updates soon.

[mschloey]

It's nice to see how technology is being improved and adapted for older generations.

[dollyj]

Nowadays, especially during this pandemic, I am thinking about how to make my grandparents feel good, safe and not alone. So I came here to read a little about this app and it seems amazing! I'll definitely try it 🙂 Until then I bought my grandma a senior walker. She was complaining about her feet, she said they always hurt and that she needs support. I couldn't be with her all the time because I have work to do and my grandpa is too old to help her all day because he gets easily tired. Now she's happy and every time she sees me she thanks me saying I shouldn't have spent my money on her. Oh, the elderly...they are so precious.

[banksmabel]

I understand you so much about this. I'm also worried about my grandmother and I want her to show me her pulse often.

[SNL2]

You can get a good record of heart rate through the day and night, what you
can’t get, at least on the fitbit2, is an alarm to tell her when the heart
rate goes above a level of your choice.

So for a general check on her pulse rate and level of exercise, and weight
if she puts it in, it is excellent. I really enjoy the fitbit, just wish
they would add this alarm, then I wouldn’t have to keep stopping to check
it!

Good luck. I thoroughly recommend it. Excellent for sleep tracking too. You
never know how good that is, but it makes sense in terms of how the night
went, for me.

[DenzelNoup]

I also monitor my grandfather's pulse. He also uses instruments to calculate oxygen in the blood. Also, he needs to check his blood pressure twice a day. His blood pressure rises very often in the evenings. He forgets to take pills for high blood pressure. Suppose he does not drink the drugs, his infirmity and dizziness increase. He may lose consciousness when he climbs the stairs. I'm anxious about him because I can't be around him around the clock. I hired a home care assistant for him on this site https://homecareassistance.com/tampa-bay. I am glad that I was advised to contact them. Now I don't break down from work from every call he makes.

[SNL2]

Have you checked to see if there is a fitbit that sends an alarm if someone
falls? I hate to mention it but the Apple Watch does that.

[SunsetRunner]

Awesome idea my dad would love this and myself as well. 

[kateronhur]

This would actually be very helpful. My father has a lot of health problems. He needs constant care because he can't use all the things he has. But I can't stay home with him all the time because I have to work. So I had to get an assistant to help them when I was not around. I'm pretty sure it was from https://myhometouch.com/our-locations. But my father is not really fond of her. He doesn't want a stranger living and taking care of him. If all these technologies were easier to handle, he would take care of himself alone. Perhaps they will make some changes.

[DallanRobs]

It sounds like a great idea! That could help a lot of people monitor their health. It can be really hard to watch older people and make sure they are alright. I learned that from my own experience. Since my granny was getting too old to take care of herself, my parents usually sent me to watch other her.

[ElyCllrck]

It sounds like a great idea! That could help a lot of people monitor their health. It can be really hard to watch older people and make sure they are alright. I learned that from my own experience. Since my granny was getting too old to take care of herself, my parents usually sent me to watch other her. But my studies took all my time so that I couldn't do that anymore. They hired home care professionals. But they did nothing all day. We found that my granny's health started to be worse. We contacted homecareassistance.com for their services. Many reviews said that they have friendly and good instructed staff.

[This_woman]

I posted this on fb...

Make a practical Fitbit for active seniors without so much useless technology, like the FitBit Zip. Counts steps, elevation, distance, and calories...that's what 70+ year olds want, at a low price. Get real!

I did read some of the comments for recommendations for medical needs or prompts on a fitbit for seniors...some great idea, but I want something simple, small, with the features I mentioned.