Can a family app also send health reminders to seniors?

Yes. With Elsy, the two go together. Reminders about medicines and doctor's appointments arrive as notifications on your phone, and your family can follow along in the family dashboard. What they see depends on their level in Your circle. From the Care partner level, they can also see your reminders and medicines and help you with them.

With Elsy, health reminders and the family dashboard are part of the same service. You get the reminders on your phone, and if you like, your family can follow along. Here's how that works.

How Elsy works with the family dashboard

Elsy is an AI companion who helps older adults organize their day, for example by reminding them about medicines and appointments. The family dashboard is what the family members in Your circle see, in their own Elsy app and on helloelsy.com. They pay for the dashboard themselves, but reading the life stories you send costs them nothing. Your family can follow how you're doing without seeing your conversations. From the Wellbeing level, they can get their own short daily recap by email. You can get one too: on days you've talked with Elsy, a summary of your day arrives by email in the evening. If someone in your family wants to set Elsy up for you, they can read more on the page for families.

What it looks like in practice

Say "Remind me to take my pills at 8," and Elsy sets up the reminder. If someone in your family has the Care partner level, they can see your reminders and medicines in the family dashboard, including what's been taken and what's coming up. They can also add and change them. Those show up in your app marked Set by your caregiver, and you can still mark them as done and record that you've taken your medicine.

Health reminders with Elsy

Elsy reminds you about your medicines at the times you've agreed with her, and she keeps track of your doctor's appointments and other health tasks too. If you've turned on Sync with calendar, your reminders also show up in your phone's calendar, right next to your other appointments. Get more tips on keeping track of medicines and appointments.

How it works

When it's time, the reminder arrives as a notification on your phone, with your phone's notification sound. If it's a medicine and you don't respond, the app asks again after about 5 and 15 minutes. You can tap Taken, Skip or Remind me in 10 min right in the notification. Elsy doesn't call you or read the reminder out loud. It means one less thing to keep in your head during the day.

Someone to talk to

Besides the reminders, Elsy is someone to talk to. You can tell her about your interests, and she remembers what you've said for next time. A daily conversation can help keep your mind active, and it can be good company on days when visitors are few and far between.

Daily conversations

Chat about Today's question, or tell Elsy about a moment from your life you remember well. Afterward, she writes the story down with your own words as quotes and a picture she has painted, and you can send it to your family whenever you like. Read more about life stories with Elsy.

Your family stays up to date

If you like, your family can keep up with how you're doing without reading your conversations. From the Wellbeing level, they see how you're doing over time. These are estimates based on patterns in your conversations, not clinical measurements. That can help the whole family understand and support each other.

What your family can see

Your family never sees transcripts or recordings of your conversations, apart from the life stories you send them, which contain your own words and may include short excerpts of your voice. What else they see depends on their level in Your circle:

• Stories only: the stories you send them, your name and your photo.
• Safety net: also an alert if a conversation suggests something might be wrong.
• Wellbeing: also how you're doing over time.
• Care partner: also your reminders and medicines, which they can help with.
• Full trust: also what Elsy remembers about you.

Everyone in your circle above Stories only can see the photos you share from your Photo album. If a family member set Elsy up and gave consent on your behalf, everyone in your circle is at Full trust. Read more about what your family can see.

Your conversations are recorded and stored securely so Elsy can remember what you tell her, and your stored data is hosted in the EU. So that Elsy can hear you, answer and remember, what you say is processed by AI services in the United States. We never sell your personal data, and we don't use it to train general-purpose AI models.

What research says about technology for older adults

A review of 24 earlier research reviews, published in the journal JMIR Aging, concluded that technology can improve older adults' social connections, and that communication technology and video calls showed the best results. The authors also found that the quality of the research so far is low. In the US, more than one in four adults aged 65 to 80 say they sometimes or often lack companionship, according to a 2024 study in JAMA.

Keeping your mind healthy

The US National Institute on Aging suggests several steps for keeping your mind healthy. Two of them are keeping your mind engaged and staying connected with family, friends and neighbors, which it calls a great way to ward off isolation and loneliness. Elsy doesn't prevent dementia. But she can give you a daily conversation and some structure in your day, and she doesn't replace time with other people.

How to get started

Download Elsy from the App Store or Google Play, open the app and tap Talk to Elsy. Ask her to remind you about your next medicine or doctor's appointment. When you're ready, you can invite your family from Your circle under Profile. You can try Elsy free for 3 days on your own phone. See how Elsy works step by step.

Frequently asked questions

How do I set up health reminders with Elsy?

Tell Elsy when you need to take your medicine or see the doctor, for example "Remind me about the doctor on Tuesday at 9." When it's time, you get a notification on your phone.

Can my family see what I tell Elsy?

Not word for word. Your family never sees transcripts or recordings of your conversations, apart from the life stories you send them, which contain your own words and may include short excerpts of your voice. What else they see depends on their level in Your circle: from Wellbeing, how you're doing and a short email on the days you talk with Elsy; from Care partner, also your reminders and medicines; and at Full trust, also what Elsy remembers about you. If a family member set Elsy up and gave consent on your behalf, everyone in your circle is at Full trust. Read more in our privacy policy.

How can Elsy help me with my day?

Elsy sends reminders about your medicines and appointments, and she writes down your life stories when you tell her about your life. That can give your day more structure.

This is general information, not medical advice. Every situation is different, so talk to a doctor about yours.