The Elder Law Coach

Ep 62 How Smart Homes, AI, And Telehealth Help Seniors Stay Independent

• Todd Whatley

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We map the biggest 2025 trends helping older adults stay independent, from smart homes and AI wearables to telehealth, holistic wellness, and memory care training. Practical takeaways show how families and attorneys can plan for safer, calmer aging at home.

• smart home controls for safety and routine
• predictive AI wearables that flag infections early
• telehealth workflows that speed access to care
• holistic wellness across movement, sleep and nutrition
• growth of memory care with staff-wide training
• benefits of intergenerational living for all ages
• senior-friendly public spaces and housing options
• pathways for seniors to stay in the workforce
• resources for coaching and practice growth

Please go to the theodorlawcoach.com and you can learn about a lot of our our services
We will be sending out emails and different things announcing that
Email us Todd at the Elderlawcoach.com. Also include Trisha, T-R-I-S-H-A, at the Elderlawcoach.com
Visit www.theelderlawcoach.com


Check out our new website www.TheElderLawCoach.com.

SPEAKER_00:

You're tuning in to the Elder Law Coach Podcast, the definitive resource for attorneys delving into the world of elder law. With your host, Todd Watley, a certified Elder Law attorney, past president of the National Elder Law Foundation, and renowned coach with a quarter century of specialized experience. Whether you're an established attorney looking to refine your expertise, or an emerging lawyer seeking a successful foray into elder law, this is your masterclass. Now, let's get started with the Luminary in the field. Here's Todd Watley.

SPEAKER_01:

That's right. This is the the Urlaw Coach. And my name is Todd Watley. And as always, I am super glad that you're here. And today I want to cover some things that I've been doing some research around and I love technology. I'm I'll be 60 years old this year, but I tend to be a little more techie than almost anybody in my office. I just love it. I think it's cool. And I wanted to see how technology and not just technology, but the trends in senior living. I know I have seen this occur in some of our local facilities around here. Well, that's kind of cool. And also helping people stay home longer. And so I thought it would be a good show today to show some of the senior living trends in 2025. I'm recording this in March of 2025, and so we're a little ways into it. But I think there are some cool things that are going on, and I just want to talk about. I can I have cameras, you know, I can see what's going on in my home sitting at my desk, you know, 20 minutes away. And you can do that 20 minutes away, or you can do it across the country. And so if you deck out a senior's home, you can have a good idea, knowing what's going on, almost better than living right next door because you can always see it's always looking and it can alert you to things going on. But you can see you can run the lights, you can run the climate, you can check security systems, you can lock doors. I mean, I can lock my front door right here or unlock it. And so probably most of my listeners are not that old and they understand this, but think about how cool it is to you, and then how cool it would be to do that for a senior. Okay. As I'm talking, my watch went off, saying that my garage door just went up. Okay. So I can I can know what's going on, even though I am sitting at my office re recording this. I have a pretty good idea of what's going on. And if my mother lived in a home like that, I could keep a a really good check on her. Okay. AI. Okay. I love AI. I do a whole lot of things with AI. And what is interesting with AI is not just creating things, but it is predictive. It can predict things that are going on. And I know there are there are huge strides going on with monitoring health metrics, looking at blood pressure, looking at temperature, looking at pulse rate, respiration rate. And if we can catch that early, if we can see something start to tick up a little bit, if their temperature is starting to rise a little bit, oops, there may be an infection. Let's jump on it now. Let's call the pharmacy, let's get this taken care of before it blows up and is a huge issue. I've done podcasts, I think I've done a coaching podcast with him, but if not, you should go listen to my Generations Legal Group podcast where I do a interview with a home care physician, and he is developing some technology that monitors things like that. And he said that a senior's health can go from not so good to horrible within 24 hours. That once they start feeling bad, particularly, you know, they are very slow to call the doctor, the family, you know, once they're really bad, they then call the family, then they call the doctor and it's like, hey, I think we need to bring mom in. It's like, okay, we'll get her in next Wednesday. No, I need her to be seen now, and you hate to go to the ER because you don't know what they're going to do there. It's busy, um, feel kind of bad. It's like, well, she's fine, go home. It's like you just wasted a day. So with this predictive AI, they can actually predict what's going on, catch this stuff early. And he says, with this thing that I put on their wrist, like a watch, I can catch their temperature, we're alerted, I go out there, check it. Yep, you've got a little infection, let's get you some antibiotics. Boom, within hours, and they correct the problem and they don't have to go to the hospital, and it's just so much better. And so that is a really cool future trend that I see coming that is being utilized, and I think it's just going to explode. And so, yes, my doctor does go to their homes, but not all doctors do that, and he can't see everybody. But another almost next best thing is telehealth, being able to get an iPad, get your own phone, and do a face-to-face consultation with a physician or a PA or or someone like that to look at them, see what's going on, get your symptoms, know what's going on, and not have to get dressed, get in the car, drive across town, sit in the waiting room with other sick people to eventually go see the doctor, telehealth. Man, it's super cool. You can just get an appointment quicker. The doctor's sitting at their home probably or office, maybe, and they can crank those out and help so many people so quickly that it just absolutely makes sense. Also, we are starting to look at more holistic wellness programs. The older I get, the more I start kind of trending to, you know, maybe some of this, you know, voodoo stuff, as I used to call it, really does make sense, you know. Um physical, emotional, social, spiritual, all of that plays into a person's wellness. Being able to bring that in through YouTube or through videos or whatever without having to get this person out to go see that professional really makes a lot of sense. Bring it to them with technology so that they can do those things. I see a physician who is an osteopath rather than an MD. And not that I'm anti-MD, I just know that osteopaths tend to study some of the more holistic things and are not so rapid to jump onto medication, surgery, things like that. So, yeah, let's try this. Let's try a more holistic approach. And I really like that. And I think I get really good care and feel like I'm not being forced onto things. And as I get older, I think that's in important. And I have his text number, I can text him when I'm not feeling well, things going on. And so that is something that we should start using with the older people. And thank goodness Medicare now pays for telehealth. And I I think that's just a very interesting approach and incorporating some of the more holistic things: fitness centers, yoga studios, nutrition. I think we've ignored nutrition for quite some time, and it plays a very important part in a person's health. And I think we are starting to to look at that, and I think that is going to grow more through the years. And lover hate Trump or lover hate RFK, I do know one thing that he is going to do is going to I think clean up our food supply. I know I have young grandchildren, and dyes are a real thing. And they, I can see attitude adjustments, I can see energy levels that are very different when they consume dyes. And once we cut out dyes, their behavior got better, things got better. And so I know it affects young bodies, and I'm pretty sure it affects older bodies. And so if we can clean up our food supply some, I think this will just do nothing but help all of us, particularly those older people, as they go through these different things. Memory care has caught on in the last five to ten years hugely, where there are a whole memory care centers. And I think all of them are full. There's a waiting list, and people want memory care, where everyone in the facility is trained in memory care. And when I say everyone, I mean the maintenance guy is trained in how to deal with someone with dementia. And everyone there has gone through extra training to be able to know how to handle this person who asks the same question every three minutes, may get upset and how to be in their situation. And it just makes a huge difference when dietary, the maintenance guy, but obviously the nurse and doctor and everyone has special training in memory issues, it truly makes a difference. And I think we are seeing a huge trend in that and should see a lot of that coming up in the future. Some research that I found talked about intergenerational living. Back in the old days, back in the pioneer days, there were probably three generations living in the same house: the grandparents, their kids, and then their kids. So you had a young generation, you know, 10 and under, and then you had, you know, 30 to 40s, and then you had the 60s to 40s. Okay. Three generations. They all learn from each other. And I think we are starting to see that. A lot of people bring their parents to live with them when they when they start getting older. And I think it's really nice that you let the grandparents babysit and introduce those two generations together so that they are good for each other. The young people kind of brighten up the older people. And I think it's crucial that young kids know, hey, this is aging, this is getting older, and we need to, you know, it it helps them understand. I am going to get older and introduce them to this rather than being an adult, and it's like, oh my goodness, you know, this is so weird. No, it's not weird. It it's just life. Okay. A lot of facilities, not just old folks' homes, you know, nursing homes, assisted livings, but I think a lot of houses and public places are becoming more senior-friendly, okay? Being more welcoming to seniors. And I think that's a trend that I've recently started to see, and I think should grow and will grow so that older people can get out easier in trying to eliminate steps and trip hazards and making parking very close to the door and things like that. And so that's a trend that is occurring in public, and I think also is important for helping us get our folks out of the house and not just stay homebound all the time. This is true in some places, not true in others, but I think we are seeing more neighborhoods built for older people, housing for the older people, so that they don't have to go from their, you know, if their two-story house is just too big and there is nothing out there available for them, their next option is assisted living or, you know, a group type home of independent living. There is no in-between, but I think a lot of facilities are starting to do that. I live in northwest Arkansas and I think we're over half a million people. And there is, I think, two neighborhoods that are 55 plus that are homes that are you know very senior-friendly. Someone does the grass, you know. They they were built with that population in mind. Two, two neighborhoods in Northwest Arkansas, and that's kind of sad. And I think we are going to start seeing some more of those homes being renovated, different things. That's a trend that will help people have a in-between place between their two-story family home and the rest home. So that's good. I enjoy seeing that. And also, I think there's there's a trend in that the workforce is becoming more friendly towards seniors. If the seniors will learn technology, learn how to run a computer. I mean, you have to understand there, you know, some of these people never had a computer, never learned, never learned keyboarding, and were just, you know, they did not know how to do that. And when the workforce became a computer, they were absolutely out of work. Well, now we're getting people who grew up who typed probably and did some work on the computer are now able to work later on and be a functional part in the workforce rather than just being kicked out. So, just a informative podcast today about some of the trends that are occurring. I will do my best to drop some references in there if you are curious about it. But I think it's just interesting how we're not forgetting our old folks and trying to incorporate them into a lot of different areas, but using technology to help them stay independent longer and help them stay at home, I think it's just hugely important and something that I am proud of and advocate and want to increase the knowledge of my audience so that you can also advocate for that and and help our folks. Okay. I hope this was helpful. I would love to be your coach. Please go to the theodorlawcoach.com and you can learn about a lot of our our services. And just a quick little note, we are expanding our services, breaking down the big, huge coaching plan into different segments so that you can get coaching and not spend so much money every month, but get exactly what you want. And so we are developing that and hope that will be out by within a few months. Okay. I'm hoping by the end of April, hopefully, definitely by May or June, we will have some of those things out there. We will be sending out emails and different things announcing that. But if you have questions in the meantime, email us Todd at the Elderlawcoach.com. Also include Trisha, T-R-I-S-H-A, at the Elderlawcoach.com. Email us and we will get you some information out there. And as always, thank you for listening.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for joining this episode of the Elder Law Coach Podcast. For those eager to take their elder law practice to new heights and are interested in Todd's acclaimed coaching program, visit www.theelderlawcoach.com. With Todd Watley by your side, the journey to becoming an elder law authority has never been more achievable. Until next time, keep learning, keep growing, and stay passionate about elder law.