From fear to admiration: How technology changed Eunice’s life
With the help of Feros Care’s Smart Home Modifications service, Eunice overcame her fear of technology and has become more independent and content in her life at home.
Eunice is a 90-year-old client who calls the Gold Coast her home. Eunice is diagnosed with arthritis and lives at home, together with her son and carer Wayne. With increasing age, Eunice became more dependent on Wayne.
A caring relationship with family can be challenging. Eunice felt she did not want to be a burden for Wayne and annoy him with the things she needs. “I did not want to bother Wayne. I had a couple of falls because I did not want to bother him.”
This feeling was reinforced by their large two storey home, which made it difficult for Eunice to clearly communicate with her carer. “If you have been independent for 90 years; it is suddenly very hard to use someone else to get through life,” Eunice said.
To improve their situation, Wayne utilised a personal alarm that Eunice could ring so he knows she needs his support. However, Eunice recalls that this approach had two significant disadvantages: “I’d lose the personal alarm, and he would still need to come to talk to me to see what I want”.
Feros Care’s technology to the rescue
With this insight, there was no question for Wayne to sign Eunice up for Feros Care’s Smart Home Modification (SHM) service.
“I was already playing with new technology to see how it could make life better for us. When Feros called and asked if we wanted to try it out – I was already sold in joining,” he said.
Eunice joined Feros Care’s Smart Home Modification service about 12 months ago. She said her life has significantly changed since and improved the relationship with her carer and son Wayne.
“I am much more independent. Now, if there is something I want, I put it out on broadcast. I am also getting more comfortable using Wayne as my carer.” Also, Wayne is delighted by the benefits of Google Smart Home.
“It made life easier for me. I don’t have to run to the alarm, go to the bedroom to find out what Eunice wants. I use Google Home as an intercom system; I can just ask her [from room to room] and get a conversation going.”
From fear to advocacy
When Wayne organised to bring the new technology into their home, Eunice was first skeptical and fearful. “At the start, it was scary. I never knew a lot about technology. This was beyond my knowledge and out of my line of thinking.” Eunice became more and more used to the new features. She realised that Google Smart Home can support her in her daily life, helping her being more independent and increasing her quality of life substantially.
She said, “for me, it’s like getting a part of my life back.”
Today, Eunice still needs to remember to let go of old habits. She no longer needs to control the lights manually and can just use technology to do the work for her.
“Old habits die hard. It’s just a matter of the aged head getting into a habit of getting lazy and not switching lights on manually,” she laughs.
Eunice uses Google for broadcasting messages through the house, controls devices like lights or fans, uses it for listening to music or answering and unlocking the door. The Google Smart Home substantially changed the way Eunice and Wayne are interacting with one another to a great, positive degree. For Wayne as carer and son, Google Smart Home is reassuring and gives him a lot of peace of mind; for Eunice, it gave her a sense of control back over her life.
