Setting up Echo Show For Elderly Parents

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Amazon Alexa-enabled devices are useful gadgets to keep your parents and senior loved ones up to date, entertained and connected with family and friends. The best feature of the Echo Show for elderly parents is its ease of use. Seniors can ask Alexa about anything and it responds like an intelligent personal assistant.

Know more about what can Alexa do for seniors and how you can use Alexa to monitor elderly parents.

Before setting up Echo Show for elderly parents, here are a few things they can do with Echo Show and Alexa:

Entertainment: Endless entertainment opportunities. Listen to music, watch videos, and listen to news and podcasts when working in the kitchen.
Read More: 15 Fun Alexa games for seniors
Remain Up to Date: Get daily news from your favorite news channel, weather reports, sports scores and much more
The Drop-In skill: You can instantly connect with another person’s Alexa device with this skill. It is a great feature for younger family members to check on elderly parents.
You just “drop in” on your parents with Echo Show and see them and talk to them. Check out the complete step by step guide on using the drop in feature on Echo Show.
Video Calls: Keep in touch with family and friends through video calls. You can make video calls with other Echo Show users or you can choose to use Skype on your Echo Show. This is a good feature for the elderly to avoid boredom and avoid social isolation. You can also make normal audio phone calls.
The “Alert a Buddy” skill: After you set up this skill, seniors can use it to get help in case of emergency by just asking “Alexa, ask my buddy for help” and Alexa will contact whoever is set as your buddy (one or more persons)

These are just a few of the unlimited things Alexa can assist seniors with. Visit Alexa commands and Alexa tips for seniors articles for more features.

How To Setup Echo Show For Elderly Parents

For setting up Echo Show for elderly parents or senior loved ones, you will need:

Wireless Network (WiFi)
Amazon Account
Smartphone or Tablet (with Amazon Alexa app)

If you do not have an Amazon account already, you can create a new account at Amazon.com. You can also get the Amazon Alexa app from Google Play Store (for Android users) or App Store (for iOS users) for your smartphone or tablet.

Alexa App for Android | Alexa App for iOS

To set up Echo Show for elderly parents, start by connecting the Echo Show to a power outlet (using the included adapter) and follow these steps:

Select the device language on the first screen. Echo Show is a touch screen device so just touch on your preferred language on the screen. If your language is not on the list, scroll down to see more language options.

Once you select the language, Echo Show will search the wireless network and provide the list of available networks. Select your WiFi from the list and enter the password to connect.

The next screen will ask you to sign in to the Amazon account. Enter your Email and password to sign in. You can create a new Amazon account for your loved one if they do not have one already.

After you sign in to your account, enter your location and time zone and continue. It is a good idea to enter the address instead of skipping this option to allow Echo Show to provide you with personalised local news, weather reports etc.

You can link Echo Show to the smart home device group if you have it. Next, you can give your Echo Show a unique name and choose a wallpaper.

Your Amazon Echo Show setup is complete and it is ready to use for your parents or any other senior. Echo Show now appears in your Alexa app on your smartphone. To verify, open the Alexa app on your smartphone and click Devices at the bottom of the screen. Click on Echo and Alexa on the next screen and your new Echo Show should be listed here, with the name you gave it during setup

Note: if you have a problem finding Echo Show, make sure the Alexa app is signed in using the same Amazon account that you used during the setup process

7 Tips to Customize Echo Show for Elderly Parents

After Setting up Echo Show for elderly parents, there are a few things you can do to customize the Echo Show for them.

1. Customize the Home screen

You can either simply ask “Alexa, go to settings” or swipe down from the top of the screen and select Settings > Home Content. Here you can select the things you need on the Home screen. Keep it simple for seniors.

2. Adjust the Brightness

Go to Settings > Display and adjust the brightness using the slider. You can toggle Adaptive Brightness on/off

3. Enter Home Address

If you have not entered your home address already during setup and want to add it now. Open the Alexa app on your smartphone and tap Devices at the bottom of the screen, then Echo & Alexa and Device Location. Enter the complete address and select Save. This will enable Alexa to provide your parents with local weather, news and traffic updates.

4. Save Family and Friends Contacts

Add frequently used contacts via Alexa app. Open the Alexa app on your phone. Open Communicate and select the Contact icon. Select the menu icon (three vertical dots) and Add Contact. Enter the name and phone number and select Save.

5. Add Alexa Skills for Seniors

Although Alexa devices come with plenty of pre-installed features, you can also add additional features called “skills”. Skills are like apps for Alexa and there are thousands of seniors-friendly skills that you can add for free.

6. Put Family Memories on Echo Show’s Display

You can upload some family photos and set up Home screen cycle via Amazon Photos and your parents will see their favorite memories on the Echo Show display all day.

7. Setup Alexa Together

You can get Alexa Together, a remote caregiving service for the elderly from Amazon. This subscription comes with:

Customized Alerts: Alert for your loved ones first Alexa interaction of the day
24/7 Assistance: Seniors can get 24/7 help through trained agents
Activity feed: Snapshots of your elderly’s Alexa activities
Fall Detection: If a compatible device detects a fall, Alexa calls the urgent response for help and notifies emergency contacts
Remote Assistant: Set reminders or manage shopping for older adults

After setting up Echo Show for elderly parents, they may need some assistance to get started with Echo Show. You can help them by showing some of the Alexa features that they can use regularly, such as:

Checking the latest news and weather reports
Setting up an alarm or medication reminders
Listening to favorite music or podcasts
Show them how to ask Alexa for time and date, set reminders for medication, play trivia games and use Alexa as their personal intelligent assistant for unlimited entertainment.

Once seniors get hang of Alexa devices such as Echo Show, they can use these gadgets to avoid boredom and remain connected, entertained and informed on a daily basis.