Doro launch ‘Connect & Care’ to help stay connected with older family members

In today’s ‘always-on’ society families are often geographically dispersed. Doro has conducted consumer research into how modern families feel this impacts on their relationship with elderly relatives. The results highlight that 1-in-5 of us feel our busy lifestyles are responsible for not visiting or speaking with our senior relatives as frequently as we would like to. Furthermore, 39% of us feel that distance is a major obstacle to the provision of help and care for those elderly family members.

To help address this, Doro is launching a product called Connect & Care which aims to help people stay better connected with their elderly relatives. The service will also facilitate the delivery of help and assistance – whether in an emergency situation such as a fall, or for a basic everyday household task, for example closing a window.

For seniors, this optional service is simply added to their Doro mobile phone. Its purpose is to ensure that they are fine and well, without being invasive or cramping their lifestyle.

For family members, there is an app which will be available for both Android and iOS smartphones. The service allows family members to create their own network of people willing to help provide daily care and offer assistance to their senior relative.

Connect & Care can be set up to keep an eye on the user’s behavioural patterns, for example movement and communication, to ensure the senior is OK. This can provide alerts to the family if irregularities are detected – for example loss of movement or abnormal activity. The relative’s app also has the ability to set alerts to remind them to call the senior to check on their wellbeing.

There will also be an opportunity to introduce volunteers, via local community groups and organisations, into the senior’s circles.

Chris Millington, Managing Director at Doro UK commented on the launch: “We are currently working with our renowned partner organisations on this exciting project – specifically in terms of delivering the volunteer element.  We have found that 44% of people are willing to give some of their time to help others living within their local community. This service will help to bring families and their neighbours together in a more meaningful way. Our intelligent and innovative use of mobile technology will once again take huge steps toward bridging the digital divide between the generations.”