Technology Applied to Seniors - A Friendly Assistant or an Invasive Intruder?

The same technology to monitor babies is sold as elder care monitoring technology.

For Seniors Using Tech to Age in Place, Surveillance Can Be the Price of Independence - to age in their own homes, seniors are juggling being watched with being on their own.

By Heather Kelly
The Washington Post

The tipping point came nearly seven years ago when 82-year-old Evelyn was still living alone in her Georgia home. She was in good shape physically, still sharp mentally, and able to manage her daily tasks. But after a health scare, her family made a “nonnegotiable” decision they hoped would help the grandmother of eight stay independent even longer. They installed a Wi-Fi camera inside her home.

It took some convincing. Evelyn told her daughter Terri Davis, somewhat jokingly: “I think you’re putting in a spy camera.” 

“I assured her we had lots to do with our busy lives and wouldn’t just be watching her,” said Davis, 65. “We’re just going to peek in a few times a day like in the morning to make sure she got up, that the night was OK.”
Now Evelyn, who declined to use her last name for privacy, is in an assisted-living center. The camera is still with her, and she also wears a medical alert button around her neck. Nearing 90, Evelyn is tech savvy enough to text and check Facebook and Instagram on her iPhone, and she knows how to unplug the camera when she is not in the mood to be seen. (continued here)