fitbit that's not a fitbit

trailingspouse

My parents are in their 80s. They're fit and active and apart from a bit of forgetfulness they are still 'all there'. They are not, however, tech-minded. They both have mobiles (but not smart phones) and try as I might I can't get them to understand the difference between hitting the red button to end a call, and actually switching the damn things off. So their phones are always off...They also have a lap top, but never use it apart from an occasional foray onto Google. The family stopped sending them emails because they never checked their mailbox. You get the picture.

Anyway, I have a fitbit, and I was showing them how it worked and what it did the other day. They both really liked the idea, especially the hourly reminder to move and the fireworks at 10,000!! Mum announced that they would like something of the sort for Christmas.

Now, there are several problems here
a) they have no idea how much a fitbit costs, but it's considerably more than we would normally spend on them - not in itself a problem, but see below
b) they don't have smart phones
c) from previous experience with tech, I don't have high hopes of them being able to use them properly.

So - is there anything out there that's a bit cleverer than a straightforward pedometer, but which doesn't need to be linked to a smart phone/laptop like a fitbit?

Neil_Jones

You don't need a phone for these, a computer will do the same job with an app available on the Windows Store so it's available for Windows 8.1 and 10. See here:
https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Charge/Sync-with-PC-no-smartphone/td-p/1113883

I presume you pop around to see them at least once a month and while you're there you should be able to sync the device(s) on their behalf to keep the data rolling.

dunroving

On a side note, I don't know if you can change the 10,000 steps goal (you can on Garmin), but I'd recommend you do so. There is very little evidence that 10,000 is the correct threshold for a "healthy" target, and lots of evidence that it is an unachievable target for most people (cue the string of posts saying "I do 10,000 steps every day", yawn).

Depending on their current activity level and health status, You could reset to a lower limit of say, 5,000 steps to give them positive motivation, then gradually increase. A goal of about 6,000-7,000 steps is a more appropriate health guidelines for older adults.

See this open access review article: https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/35538/