How can a family dashboard app help seniors keep in touch with family?
A family dashboard app like Elsy can help you and your family keep in touch. You get reminders for appointments and medicines, Elsy writes down your life stories so you can send them, and in the family dashboard your family sees as much as their level in Your circle allows.
An app can make it easier for you and your family to keep in touch, even when everyone is busy. Elsy is one such app. What the family members in Your circle see in their own Elsy app and on helloelsy.com is called the family dashboard.
How Elsy brings you and your family closer
Elsy helps you keep in touch through reminders, the calendar on your phone and the life stories you share. Birthdays are a good place to start. Say "Remind me every year on May 3, it's my son's birthday," and the reminder comes every year. Remembering the days that matter to your family can strengthen the ties between the generations.
You don't have to set it all up alone, either. Many people get a hand with technology anyway. In a 2017 Pew Research Center report, around three in four Americans aged 65 and older said that when they get a new device, they usually need someone else to set it up or show them how to use it. If someone in your family helps you get started, it's easier to share the important moments.
Passing on a quick message
If your daughter is in Your circle, you can say "Tell my daughter I'm doing well today," and Elsy sends her a short message. The message only goes one way, so your daughter can't reply through Elsy. It's an easy way to let her know how your day is going.
How Elsy helps with daily routines
Say "Remind me to take my vitamins at 10," and the reminder arrives as a notification on your phone. If you've turned on Sync with calendar, it also shows up in your phone's calendar. Reminders like these can help you remember appointments, medicines and other important things. They also give your day more structure, which can help build your confidence and independence. Among other things, the US National Institute on Aging recommends following a daily routine and using calendars and notes to help your memory.
If someone in your family has the Care partner level in Your circle, they can see your reminders and medicines in the family dashboard and help you set them up. See more about reminders and daily routines.
Easy to set up
You don't need much technical skill to set up a reminder, because you just say it out loud, and it's easy to change it later. Elsy is designed to be easy to pick up. Helge, 72, describes how he found it:
“And I have to say, Elsy came as a real surprise. It's easy to say 'Elsy', but it's ten times simpler than it sounds.”
Helge, 72, talks with Elsy (translated from Danish)
Your life stories, written down and shared
When you tell Elsy about a memory, she writes it down afterward as a story, with your own words as quotes and a picture she has painted. Tap Send to family to send it to your family. Sharing your stories can bring you closer, and it passes your story and what you've learned on to the generations to come. Researchers at Emory University in the US found that children and teenagers who know more about their family's history tend to have higher self-esteem, less anxiety and stronger family relationships.
Stories to read or listen to
Your family can read the stories or listen to them, told by Elsy with short excerpts of your own voice. That way your grandchildren can get to know your life in your own words, and it can give the whole family a sense of where they come from. See how life stories work in Elsy.
How Elsy handles your data
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 stays private
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. Read more in our privacy policy.
What your family sees in the family dashboard
In the family dashboard, your family can get a sense of how you're doing. How much they see depends on their level in Your circle, and each level adds to the one before. A grandchild might have Stories only, which shows just the life stories you send them, your name and your photo. With Safety net, someone also gets an alert if a conversation suggests something might be wrong. Wellbeing adds how you're doing over time. The person who helps with your medicines might have Care partner, which adds your reminders and medicines, so they can help you with them and set them up for you. Full trust adds what Elsy remembers about you.
Photos you share from your Photo album can be seen by everyone in your circle above Stories only. See more about what your family can see.
A level for each person
If you set Elsy up yourself, you choose the level for each person in Your circle in the app, so what each person sees can match the help they give you. If a family member set Elsy up and gave consent on your behalf, everyone in your circle is at Full trust.
How to get started
Download Elsy from the App Store or Google Play, open the app and tap Talk to Elsy. To bring your family into the family dashboard, tap Invite your family in Your circle under Profile and send them the link. You can try Elsy free for 3 days on your own phone. See how Elsy works step by step.
Frequently asked questions
How does a family dashboard app work?
A family dashboard app helps you keep in touch by sharing information, updates and reminders between you and your family. In Elsy, your family sees the family dashboard in their own Elsy app and on helloelsy.com, and what it shows depends on their level in Your circle.
Do I need to be good with technology to use Elsy?
No. Elsy is made for older adults and designed to be simple and easy to pick up. You talk with her in whole sentences, so you don't need to find your way around menus.
What can Elsy do to help me keep in touch with my family?
Elsy sends you reminders, passes on a short message from you to someone in Your circle and writes down your life stories so you can send them. She doesn't update a shared family calendar, but her reminders can show up in the calendar on your own phone. All of this can help you keep in touch across the distance.
This is general information, not medical advice. Every situation is different, so talk to a doctor about yours.