How older people can benefit from wearing an Apple Watch

Apple has always stressed that its innovative range of smart watches is not age-limited, using the slogan, “There's an Apple Watch for everyone.”  

Here are some of the many benefits that make the Apple Watch a great choice for people of retirement age and beyond. 

If you have any concerns over your health, your Apple Watch can help. It will monitor numerous health conditions while you wear it. At the time of writing, these include heart health, hearing, blood oxygen, temperature and sleep health. 

In addition to monitoring, your Apple Watch will notify you if it detects anything abnormal in these readings, warning you early that something is potentially wrong before you even feel ill. 

Not all models offer all health features. For example, only Apple Watch Series 8 and later offers blood oxygen measuring. You should check the Apple website to compare all models and decide which best suits your needs. 

Apple Watch offers a Health Sharing feature, allowing you to share your health data with up to five family members. 

Health Sharing is managed through the iPhone iOS Health app, where all your health data is stored. Once enabled, you can securely share as many metrics as you wish. If you’re managing any health conditions, you don’t need to do it alone. Your loved ones can help, even if they live far away. 

Most importantly, Health Sharing lets the person you’re sharing your data with receive notifications about important health alerts. If your loved ones instantly know about a possible medical emergency, it could save precious time getting you help. This is a potentially life-saving feature. 

However, there is an even quicker way to get help in an emergency. Your Apple Watch Emergency SOS feature, also in iPhones, will automatically alert the emergency services without you needing to dial the number if you need urgent assistance.  

You’ll also benefit from Apple’s Fall Detection feature if you wear an Apple Watch Series 4 or later. Once enabled, if your Apple Watch detects a hard fall and no movements for about a minute, it will tap your wrist, sound an alarm, and attempt to contact emergency services. You might be grateful for this function if you have any illness or condition that makes you unsteady. 

If the birth date you enter when setting up your Apple Watch indicates that you’re 55 or older, Fall Detection will be turned on automatically. Your Apple Watch must have a cellular connection or Wi-Fi calling turned on and Wi-Fi coverage available for Fall Detection to work successfully. 

We all like to know our family members are safe, but dementia or any illnesses or conditions that cause confusion can result in people wandering off and become lost.  

Apple’s Location Tracking means that if you wear your Apple Watch, your family members can easily look up your location and know you’re safely where you should be.  

Apple’s Medications feature lets you track your medicine and get reminders on when to take it. Simply take a few moments to input the details of the medication you need to take, including the doses and schedules, and your Apple Watch will send you a reminder when it’s time for your next pill.  

You can indicate the medicine's shape or form and set a colour code for each one when you add it to the list to make these reminders even more helpful. This is invaluable if you’re juggling multiple medications.

You can have a lot of fun with the Apple Watch, too! Everyone benefits from staying active, regardless of age. And the Apple Watch is an outstanding fitness and activity tracker. So why not set yourself some movement targets and try to close your Apple Watch Activity Rings each day? 

Make it a family affair by sharing your fitness activity with your loved ones, and set challenges for each other! 

Wearing an Apple Watch doesn’t require the user to have an iPhone. Apple has a Family Setup service that allows someone with an iPhone to set up an Apple Watch for another family member.

If you don’t have an iPhone, choose a cellular-enabled Apple Watch. You can then use it for calls and messages. This makes communication with your family easy; no phone required! 

If you’re a senior who hadn’t considered wearing an Apple Watch, maybe it’s worth reconsidering. You’ll gain a terrific health monitoring tool that instantly alerts your family and emergency services to serious issues. You can set and achieve activity targets and continue to live an independent, active life. In short, an Apple Watch can provide you and your loved ones precious peace of mind.