The Octogenarians Who Love Amazon’s Alexa

6-9-17 National:

A community of San Diego retirees is using the personal-assistant gadget to listen to audiobooks, keep current with family news, and control home appliances.

When Lois Seed wakes up in the morning, one of the first things she says is “Alexa, what is the weather?” Seed, who is 89 and has low vision because of macular degeneration, finds it convenient to get weather information by speaking to the Alexa voice-activated assistant on her Amazon Echo. She also asks her Echo to tell her the time and to play classical music from her former hometown radio station.

“Life is more enjoyable [with Alexa],” she says, proving that the recent Saturday Night Live spoof about Alexa and seniors couldn’t be further from the truth.

Seed and about 50 other residents at the Carlsbad by the Sea retirement community near San Diego have been testing the personal-assistant technology inside their homes since late February. Front Porch, the nonprofit organization that runs the community, devised the pilot program after residents expressed interest in Alexa and asked to try it.

Some older adults have been using Alexa on their own to alleviate loneliness and set medication reminders, but Front Porch appears to be the first retirement community to study the technology’s impact in depth. And it wants its residents’ experiences to help inform how future versions of Alexa might better serve the elderly. The group could represent a sizeable new market for Amazon. More than one million Americans reside in assisted-living facilities today, and that number is expected to double by 2030. ..Continued..

Alexa can tell you the steps for CPR, warning signs of heart attack and stroke

2-22-17 National:

The voice-activated Amazon Echo device answers thousands of everyday requests, like setting a timer, playing music, ordering a pizza or changing a thermostat.

Now, this device can help save someone’s life.

Alexa, the friendly voice of the Amazon Echo, will for the first time offer CPR instructions and describe the warning signs of heart attack and stroke.

The information is crucial because prompt medical attention can make the difference between life or death, or significant disability, said Robert Neumar, M.D., Ph.D., chair of emergency medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School.

“Any system that can reliably reduce delays in medical care for cardiac arrest, heart attack and stroke has the potential to improve health outcomes,” he said.

To access this new information, people simply ask Alexa, starting with the phrase “Alexa, ask American Heart” to ensure they’re hearing the science-based information from the American Heart Association. So, you would say:

Amazon Alexa Can Now Help Diagnose What Ails You

2-20-17 National:

Amazon Alexa users with health issues can now have Alexa call Healthtap's Doctor AI to help figure out what's wrong and direct them to act accordingly.

Doctor AI initially supported Apple iOS and Android devices and its first voice application, Talk to Docs launched for those same devices in 2013. But support for Alexa, the smart voice-activated software that debuted with the Amazon Echo connected speaker, brings Dr. AI to home users who might not be adept at using screens.

"We'd been doing text and video before, then expanded into voice and that's exciting in healthcare because we serve many populations that are older, disabled, or frail," said Ron Gutman, founder and chief executive of Palo Alto, California-based digital health company which claims 107,000 doctors in its network. Records and data from those doctors make up Dr. AI's health care data trove.

"Voice is cool, but more important, it's fills a real need of people who have difficulty using their hands or whose eyesight is not that great," Gutman added. ..Continued.. by Barb Darrow

Is Amazon's ECHO's "Personal Assistant" for the elderly and disabled?

We now have one of these devices and are testing it to see how it can help folks. It works fine and can play some games as well. How to setup Echo

9-19-2015 National:

Is Amazon's ECHO a device for everyone? Probably not, but it does have features that would be mighty handy for the elderly and many disabled folks, and err couch potatoes, no names mentioned.

What is it? Effectively a "Personal Assistant" with "Plus Option/s" if you decide to use those features. Today's price on Amazon is CLICK. Reviews below sometimes mention different prices.

So a few Reviews, with different points of view. Oh just remember who we are suggesting this for, the elderly and disabled:

You should probably buy the Amazon Echo

Amazon Echo review

Amazon Echo, a.k.a. Alexa, Is a Personal Aide in Need of Schooling

How I learned to love Alexa (and Amazon's Echo)

Amazon Echo review: Betcha can’t buy just one of these voice-activated connected-home controllers

Here's what our readers think of the Amazon Echo

See other home voice activated personal assistants ...