[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to Aging Gayfully. We're about adventure, leisure, travel, being a citizen of the world, traveling to destinations, and being a part of the global community as we age and prosper in body, mind and spirit.
[00:00:29] Speaker B: Welcome to Aging Gayfully. I'm Josh.
[00:00:32] Speaker A: And I am Chris.
[00:00:34] Speaker B: And Chris, it's been a little bit of time since we chatted with each other.
[00:00:38] Speaker A: Well, you know, kind of caregiving has gotten in the way. But we're, we're back today and I think it's Happy Pride Month.
[00:00:44] Speaker B: It is Happy Pride Month. Do you have any plans?
[00:00:48] Speaker A: Just to be prideful.
[00:00:49] Speaker B: That's good. That works. That absolutely works. I love that.
Do you have any Rockin Pride parades around where you're at?
[00:00:58] Speaker A: They're all over South Florida. Goodness. And, you know, one of the meccas is right down the road from me in Wilton Manors, Florida, so.
[00:01:06] Speaker B: Oh, interesting. I didn't know that that was a Mecca.
[00:01:09] Speaker A: My little community here in Lake Worth has a parade. I mean, they're just kind of all over the place, but I, I remember my first parade.
[00:01:18] Speaker B: As do us.
[00:01:19] Speaker A: As do Forest Park.
[00:01:23] Speaker B: Very nice. Yeah. You tell that story in, in a past episode, don't you?
[00:01:27] Speaker A: Yeah, it was.
Goodness. I can't think of how many years that.
I can't think of how many years ago that was, but it's probably at least 40.
[00:01:39] Speaker B: Well, it's probably felt like just yesterday.
[00:01:42] Speaker A: It does. Especially because if you, you know, now that we're big time and doing video podcast, have you noticed anything different about me?
[00:01:52] Speaker B: Oh, this, this is a trick question. You're wearing a shirt, finally. As opposed to just going topless.
[00:02:00] Speaker A: Well, I, I, you know, me going topless would pretty much ruin the, the podcast. But. No, but, no, no, don't think, don't you see anything different?
[00:02:11] Speaker B: Well, you are, you are skinny, svelte. Yes, yes, I've lost 50 pounds. I know, I know. I unfortunately have found it.
[00:02:23] Speaker A: Well, that's what friends are far, you know, lost and found.
[00:02:27] Speaker B: That was a heck of a Christmas gift that you gave me.
[00:02:31] Speaker A: It doesn't need to be returned. It's okay.
[00:02:33] Speaker B: Yeah, no, I can't seem to get rid of it.
[00:02:36] Speaker A: Anyway, we're going to do technology today, but eventually we're going to do some health and wellness and travel as well, so.
[00:02:43] Speaker B: Yeah, well, I'm, I'm intrigued by your regime because I am very impressed. You did one of those pictures. You know, those pictures from the side where you hold your pants out.
[00:02:52] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:02:53] Speaker B: And, and yeah, very impressive. So congratulations to you. And I assume that you're Continuing?
[00:03:00] Speaker A: Yes, I am continuing. I'm getting ready to go on a exercise routine. I've had to take a little bit of a break here from my own caregiving as my good friend Rubeme partner and has had shoulder replacement surgery. So this past month has been really dedicated to getting him up and running again.
And slowly but surely that's happening. But as happens to a lot of folks who are in the midst of care, they kind of lose sight of their own wellness and well being. And I certainly have felt that the last 10 days where I've kind of gotten out of my exercise routine, but I haven't gone on any eating binges.
[00:03:56] Speaker B: Well, that's good.
That's good.
Well, here's the thing. It's important that we are always mindful that even if we fall off the horse for whatever reason, that we can always jump back on.
[00:04:08] Speaker A: Always jump back on.
[00:04:09] Speaker B: I've seen way too many people take a little stumble or they've had to, for a very legitimate reason, stop their workouts for a week or two weeks and then they just figure, oh, well, then that's it. You know, it really.
[00:04:24] Speaker A: It's a mindset.
[00:04:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:26] Speaker A: Comes down to being a mindset. Somebody asked me what triggered this for you? And I said, well, I, you know, I just came to the realization that all the, the health calamities that I was dealing with, I could do one or two things. I could continue to take medicine to help alleviate some of the pain or like the doctor said, or you can put yourself in better shape and go from there. And I, it was a mindset thing. It was kind of like I decided that I wanted to do this rather than I had to do it. And that was the, that was the shift.
[00:05:10] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:10] Speaker A: So.
[00:05:11] Speaker B: Because that's excellent.
[00:05:12] Speaker A: I don't know about you, but I don't know anybody really likes to be told what to do.
So.
[00:05:18] Speaker B: No, no, not my favorite thing.
But let's do a little pivot here. Let's talk about technology and ways that technology can help us. Now I work in a senior community and it's so interesting to me that technology offers this wealth of resources. It offers this plethora of tools to help us in our day to day. And a lot of people resist it, A lot of seniors resist it.
[00:05:45] Speaker A: That's true. And technology evolves every day. And I think that's part of one of the reasons why people resist it. Because you get used to a particular system or a particular program or a particular particular software, and then after you get comfortable with it all Of a sudden, there's an upgrade.
[00:06:06] Speaker B: Yeah.
Yes.
[00:06:07] Speaker A: And I think what I've learned along the way, and, you know, tech is, especially with AI, I mean, goodness, that's. That's kind of taken over the world in one sense. But I think one of the things that tech companies have forgotten about, and this applies, no matter how old you are, we all have different skills and abilities when it comes technology, how we use it, how we understand it, and what works best for each person. That's. It's not a cookie cutter. And I think that's what. I think that's some of the problems, especially as we get older, as it relates to technology. You know, personally, for me, you know this. I don't know if all of our listeners know, but I'm dyslexic, so that plays a role into how I learn technology.
And I'll use my siblings as an example, since they're all older.
As we get older, we all have different skills and abilities.
Well, no matter how old we are, we have different skills and abilities.
How do you learn those skills as it relates to technology? That could be advantageous.
[00:07:29] Speaker B: Yeah. And the other thing that's a barrier to some people is the cost, you know, different things.
You know, even getting a smartphone, that's not an inexpensive transaction. Now, once you get the smartphone, there's plenty of free apps and free little things that you can do with it. But even getting the phone and then setting it up, all of these things prove to be barriers for folks who are just dipping their toe into technology, maybe for the first time.
[00:07:59] Speaker A: Very much so. These smartphones.
Oh, goodness.
The latest update has just went on your phone. Well, what do we even need? All those updates and there's so much noise out there as it relates to what's the next best thing.
I think it just kind of behooves us to continue on. On with what you're comfortable with.
You know, you don't always need the next best thing, but I don't know, we're always encouraged to kind of push that upgrade button.
[00:08:40] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. Well, let's talk about some of the things that are available for folks that seniors find extremely helpful. Now, I will ask you, do you have a smart speaker?
[00:08:54] Speaker A: Do I have a smart speaker? No, I don't.
[00:08:58] Speaker B: Okay, so we have smart speakers in our house. We have three. Two downstairs and one upstairs. And for those who aren't very familiar with the idea of smart speakers, they are speakers that you talk to. And. And.
[00:09:12] Speaker A: Oh, you mean like Alexa.
[00:09:13] Speaker B: Yes. That's okay.
[00:09:14] Speaker A: I have. I Do have Alexa.
[00:09:16] Speaker B: Oh, is yours not so smart?
[00:09:20] Speaker A: That's the user that's not so smart.
[00:09:23] Speaker B: So yes. So Amazon has a product, Google has a product, Apple has a product. All of them have this virtual assistant that you talk to and it responds back to you and answers your questions. Now AARP Tech Trends Report found that 34% of adults aged 50 plus own a smart speaker and 73% of those use it daily. And that's for weather, for reminders and for entertainment. And many users report increased feelings of safety and independence due to voice activated features like fall detection and emergency calling.
Now very important word in there, this idea, these two ideas of safety and independence.
The, the more advanced you get in your life, the more you are concerned with both being safe and best your ability maintaining your independence.
And these are some devices that help you do that.
[00:10:21] Speaker A: Well, safety and independence are like buzzwords as you get older. Everybody wants to experience that.
I think the caution there is how do you turn safety and independence into a sales pitch?
[00:10:41] Speaker B: Okay, go ahead.
[00:10:43] Speaker A: Well, I mean there's so many devices out there on the market.
Which one is the best one for you?
How do you, how do you decide which the, what do you need? I'm, we're kind of going through that right now at our home is, you know, I'm, I can't be at home 24 7.
But I also know that my roommate is pretty independent yet with a replacement surgery, with shoulder replacement surgery. That's just happening. You know it's going to be two or three more months before he's fully functional and where's my comfort zone? And leaving for a couple of hours to do so. You know, that's where some of these devices really come in handy. But how do you know the right one to pick for yourself?
[00:11:40] Speaker B: Well, you use a little bit of technology called the Internet and AARP has a page dedicated to which smart speaker is the best depending on what features it offers.
So yeah, so it will take a little technology to research, but it'll take.
[00:11:58] Speaker A: Technology to get to the technology.
[00:12:00] Speaker B: Yes. Or you know, if, if you have a senior who has any young person nearby, then of course they can ask them for help in research, you know.
[00:12:08] Speaker A: Because I often say, especially when we're doing technology, if I only had a 15 year old for just a couple of hours, I promise to give them right back. That's because it's, it's, you know, and it's, I think it's, as I look at my, some of my nieces and nephews, I think it's fun to see how people learn technology, but the teenagers, you know, most of them just pick it up, like they grab the phone and they start and it's all, and it's like, what's up with that? How do they.
[00:12:41] Speaker B: Yeah. So we'll talk about my 8 year old who's very, very handy with a tablet right now. And I don't mean Tylenol, I mean, hey, I mean, I mean, it's a digital tablet, so. Yeah, absolutely. No, well, that encourages some intergenerational exchange there.
[00:12:59] Speaker A: Well, you know, and I think the fun thing about that is you look back and you see how learning changes.
I mean, I don't, you know, I remember as a kid being set in front of the TV to watch early morning and Saturday cartoons. That was our, that was our learning curve.
[00:13:25] Speaker B: Yes. I don't know what I learned from the Saturday morning cartoons, except for perhaps you can run off the cliff and you can stay in the air for a few minutes until you realize that you're off the cliff and then you fall. That's the only thing I learned from the Saturday morning cartoons.
So you have this Amazon device in your house. What do you use it for?
[00:13:44] Speaker A: You know, what I mostly use it for is music.
[00:13:47] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:13:49] Speaker A: I have a couple of special channels I listen to on Sirius xm.
And the other thing I will ask, I will ask questions every once in a while to Alexa, you know, what's the temperature, what's the weather?
I get some automatic updates on the weather, especially if there's any, any, any severe weather.
But it's funny, most of the time I use it while we're sitting in the kitchen.
[00:14:19] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:14:20] Speaker A: There'll be a discussion going on and we'll want to, we'll want to kind of fact check our, our opinions and our, you know, look at it, ask about a specific event and when it happened. So it's, you know, it's readily available, which I think is pretty awesome.
[00:14:41] Speaker B: So we use it for that. Of course, we also use it to remind us to do whatever at a certain time. We use it to set alarms, to wake us up, obviously, or to time our food. We also use it for light control, to turn lights on and off, for a thermostat for different things. In our house, anything that plugs into an electrical socket you can connect to or I can connect to my virtual assistant through Amazon and have it operate that which you start to have this used by people who have mobility issues.
Very, very handy and wonderful.
Or people who have vision issues, you know, and they can't necessarily find the thermostat or they can't find the light or even if you are in, you know, in your bed at night and you want the lights on, you need to jump up or very gingerly get up and go to the restroom, you just ask the lights to turn on instead of having to fumble for a switch or all of these things. You know, we're starting to go into the area of oh, isn't that nice to now. Oh, this is increasing my safety. This is making it just a little bit safer for me to maneuver in my home.
[00:15:54] Speaker A: Well, and safety is.
I mean, how can you, how can you not want something that makes life safer?
[00:16:07] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:16:09] Speaker A: And the independence that that provides.
[00:16:13] Speaker B: Yeah. And the, the other thing that I've seen a lot of seniors use it for is pill reminders.
[00:16:22] Speaker A: You know, I hadn't thought of that. But that, that is important.
You know, the pill reminders. I got to do my vitamins today because I know that on Sundays as I have to refill it. But be nice to have that little reminder.
[00:16:40] Speaker B: Oh sure. Doctor's appointments and. And another useful thing is, is that you can hook it up so that when you ask it to, it can call an emergency contact. So God forbid you fall in the middle of the middle of the room. You can't get up.
[00:16:53] Speaker A: I must have been reading my bald head because I was thinking just that.
[00:16:57] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:16:58] Speaker A: About merge. About having, having.
So that's actually a solution while I'm gone to have to set up the AI to call me if I'm gone.
[00:17:13] Speaker B: Oh, sure.
[00:17:14] Speaker A: Very good. You see, we're even educating ourselves on aging gayfully.
[00:17:19] Speaker B: I think I just did my good deed for the day. Goodbye everyone.
Oh, goodness. So let's talk about some different technology so that the smart speaker is definitely very helpful.
Another thing that I deal with in my work is I help the people who have low vision challenges. You know, the prevalence of macular degeneration, for example, as we age is. It's staggering how many folks get that. And there are so many different tools to help with.
Help with vision or help with a lack of vision, I would say that are out there. And I'll just. I'm just going to name drop one because this is one that I'm very familiar with.
It's a free app.
It is on both Apple and Android. It's on your phone. You can get on your iPad or your tablet, anything that has a camera.
It's called Seeing AI. They are not a sponsor, but they are welcome to sponsoring aging gay fully and what you do is you turn it on. You turn the camera on, you point your phone at text and it will start reading the text to you.
It's pretty amazing.
Senior AI no, seeing as in I can see S E E I, N G. And then A I seeing AI and it'll use the camera of your phone. Now, I first discovered this app, I guess about a year ago, and I started introducing it to the seniors that I know who found it to be incredibly easy to use and incredibly useful because really all you do is you click it on your phone, you point it to text, and it automatically starts reading.
Now, since then, talk about the development of technology.
Since then they have expanded because of the usefulness and the resourcefulness of AI. Now, you turn on your phone, you point your camera at anything and it will say, that is a red coffee cup in front of you.
Or that will say that is a door in front of you. Or that will say there is a bald man wearing a red shirt with checkered lines in it standing in front of you.
Now imagine the worlds that, that can open up. Oh my gosh, like shopping.
Someone with low vision being able to shop now. So what they would need to do is they need to take their phone, they would probably want to get headphones so that not everyone is hearing this, this, this constant description that's going on. But then they can go and they can point their, their camera, their phone at a can. It'll say, oh, that's tomato soup. Okay, well I want that. Oh, it's five ounces. Oh, okay, I don't want that one. I want the 12 ounce one. Now, obviously there's a bit of a learning curve and getting used to it, but imagine the worlds that, that can open up and again, independence.
Trying to maintain independence and increasing confidence.
[00:20:13] Speaker A: I'm looking at it right now because, you know, I'm technologically advanced. I can do two things at the same time. Yes, if we get that might be overload, but I was gonna say, now.
[00:20:26] Speaker B: Rub your head and pat your belly while you're doing that.
[00:20:28] Speaker A: I don't have a belly anymore to pat, so I'll come, I'll come and pat yours, but I might get mad, but that's okay.
This is like, again, this is another thing that, that is so important why we have these conversations, because we all come across helpful tools.
But there's not one person or entity that could have all this information in one spot. But that's why it's so important to share it. I mean, this is like off the charts.
I'M thinking of my friend in Fort Lauderdale who could use this.
[00:21:15] Speaker B: And let's be clear, Chris, that's just the one that I came across. That's just the one that I happen to be aware of.
There's so much out there. And this particular episode isn't mean to be, meant to be an exhaustive review of everything that's out there. It's just showing examples of how far we've advanced. And if we have folks who are willing to try, who are willing to learn, who have people around them to.
[00:21:41] Speaker A: Help, I'm willing to learn.
[00:21:44] Speaker B: Then your independence can still be maintained a lot longer than you think that it can be. And that's so important.
[00:21:52] Speaker A: Yeah, very much so. Yeah, very much so. So I'm being educated on our own podcast.
[00:22:03] Speaker B: Isn't that it's good that I feel like I have some good on this podcast as opposed to just, you know, learning from you, which I'm happy to do, but that's how it usually happens.
[00:22:12] Speaker A: This is a two way street.
[00:22:15] Speaker B: One more thing, one more example of how technology can be useful AI and predictive tool health monitoring.
[00:22:23] Speaker A: Oh, I've gone through a whole lot of health apps this past six months with my weight loss.
[00:22:30] Speaker B: Okay, go ahead, let's hear about it.
[00:22:33] Speaker A: Well, I'm not going to name names, but maybe I will.
So, you know, health and wellness is obviously a real big business and you get inundated with apps when you start, you know, you type in and said, I want to exercise app or I want, you know, I, I want to be able to tone up and, or I want to do yoga.
And then you, I think everybody has seen these advertisers, advertisements on, on your phone or whatever social media app that you're on. You know, they, they, they break it down into age, age groups. You know, whether 20 to 30, 30 to 40, or whatever the age group is. And they always have something 60 or above or 65 and above. And you know, they have these AI photos of people as they age. And then you, when you click on it, the people who are demonstrating the exercises are these buffed, you know, 20, 30 years old. And you know, it's like, wait a minute, that's not what I, you know, you advertised that this is for 65 and older, yet you don't have anybody demonstrating in that age bracket. You know, what's the, so you know, what's the reality of that?
You want to be able to have cohorts in one sense in these, especially in the, in the, in the health and wellness app. That, that you can relate to. I'm not going to relate to a 25 year old buffed.
What do they call the abs when they're packed? The six packed abs.
[00:24:16] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:24:17] Speaker A: I want to be able to relate to the content that's being delivered to somebody that's in my, in my age bracket.
And there's are a few, there's a few apps out there that have really gotten it and one I'm not, you know, I, I signed up for an app that was, that was geared towards seniors, senior exercising done by a senior.
And it's like, you know, those, you felt like you were, that you were a part of the group because they, the instructor was relatable to what your current situation is. Not something that was generated to make you look like you were, you were going to the beach so everybody could look at you.
[00:25:14] Speaker B: Yeah, no, that's very important. We need to be able to see ourselves in the context.
[00:25:17] Speaker A: To be able to see ourselves in the context. And I think that kind of comes back to, you know, why we do these, you know, it's, we share our experiences. It's relatable.
[00:25:29] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely.
[00:25:31] Speaker A: And technology, I mean, let's face it, you know, it's, we all have our different skill levels when it relates to technology and oftentimes tech companies forget that.
[00:25:44] Speaker B: Sure, sure. Well, it also goes back to this idea of connection, which is the central theme of this podcast.
And there was a study that, in the Journal of Gerontology that said that seniors learn tech best from peer led or intergenerational programs, especially when training was hands on, patient and contextually relevant. And all of that is saying is that what will make this work? What's the secret sauce of all this is having someone that you can learn from, someone that you can ask another human being that will help you. And that's, you know, we're trying to help with this information. But then how this sticks the best is if, if there's a senior that has connections that can help them do it, right? Very much so, yeah, absolutely. One more thing I wanted to mention and that is are you familiar with the smart. Do you have a smartwatch? Are you familiar with smartwatches?
[00:26:40] Speaker A: I, I have one on order.
[00:26:43] Speaker B: Oh, good.
Oh good.
So they have all sorts of health things on them. They can track your heart rate.
They have smartwatches that have sensors embedded in them. If you have the app installed that can predict your possibility of falling days in advance based on your gait and your movement. So it'll analyze not your front gate that you'll fall over your gate. How you step, and it will analyze how you do that and say, hey, look, you have a 60% chance of falling unless you either change the way you walk through occupational therapy or just be more mindful.
[00:27:25] Speaker A: I needed that in April when I.
When I fell.
[00:27:28] Speaker B: So, again, isn't that amazing?
[00:27:31] Speaker A: I have the pictures to prove it. You know, it is amazing. But, you know, with that, Josh, I think the other thing that we've got to be mindful of here is all these technological advances, and everybody has to find their comfort zone with this.
And, you know, I. It's. It's. It's been interesting for me over the last, especially the last year, year and a half with the whole Care Network. Of all the. The tech people that have approached me about doing a podcast or wanting to promote their product or.
And I always come back to one simple question.
Tell me your why.
Why did you create this?
The. The folks that have created these. Very helpful. And this is Christopher McClellan's own opinion. Not, you know, the folks who have created helping apps.
The ones that I really appreciate are the ones that have created it from a personal experience that they understood what happened with a family member or a loved one, and they have the technological skills to take that particular issue that they're dealing with and create something that helps everybody.
Those are the tech people that I, I love talking to because, you know, their why.
[00:29:09] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:29:12] Speaker A: And they're authentic. Not that, you know, again, my opinion only because when it comes to care and caregiving and senior care, you know, we all have our own experiences, but from our experiences, we often have solutions that other people can benefit from, and it's those folks who can share that.
And that's kind of what we do in our, you know, you. And we have the ability to share our experiences and hopefully help somebody else who. Even if it's just one person who's listening to this and help helping them, then we've been successful.
[00:29:55] Speaker B: Yep. That is our why.
[00:29:58] Speaker A: That is our why.
[00:30:00] Speaker B: So how can people connect with us?
[00:30:03] Speaker A: Well, they can go to Gainesville and look for you on. On the street corner, but I will.
[00:30:09] Speaker B: I will not be on the street corner. It's too damn hot. I will not be on the street corner.
[00:30:13] Speaker A: It's gotten hot in Florida.
They can contact us through Yes, I
[email protected].
yes, I
[email protected] and I have another plug, if you don't mind.
[00:30:31] Speaker B: The floor is yours.
[00:30:32] Speaker A: The floor is yours.
[00:30:33] Speaker B: I'm assuming it's not a hair plug, so go ahead.
[00:30:36] Speaker A: Well, you never know.
Never know. No, but, you know, we. Our last episode, we talked about the film project, and the such as we filmed is now live.
And since it's technology, I'm trying to. You know, I did the website myself, so. So, please, there might be a typo or two because I am dyslexic, but the such as we film dot com. Check it out. Such as we film dot com.
[00:31:08] Speaker B: That's exciting. That's exciting.
[00:31:10] Speaker A: Happy pride.
[00:31:11] Speaker B: Happy pride. All right, you all. Until next time, I've been Josh. And I want you all to go out there and live the absolute best life you can.
Be safe and maintain that independence.
[00:31:23] Speaker A: And I would say ditto.
[00:31:26] Speaker B: All right, See you.
[00:31:28] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:31:45] Speaker B: Sam.
