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I'm the primary 24/7 caregiver for my mom, who has a bad heart condition and is only able to take a few steps on her own. My brother lives with us but he has health problems of his own and stays in his bedroom the majority of the day. He peeks out at mom during the infrequent times that I do my own quick errands like grocery shopping or my own doctors' appointments, but I'm concerned about what would happen to her if she had problems and my brother isn't quickly available. I have set her up for speed dial to my brother's phone and my cell phone, but what if she is unable to dial? I have a laptop and a Kindle Fire, and I'm wondering if some sort of nanny cam setup would be helpful, but I don't know where to begin as far as what to buy and how to set it up. I'd like to get her an alert bracelet or necklace (preferably with no monthly fees), if that's practical. I need to figure out how to livestream movies from my laptop to our big-screen TV (she gets bored easily and relies mostly on the kind of movies they show on Lifetime movie network). There are probably a lot of tech solutions that would enhance her life, but I'm having a hard time googling anything that is not a commercial ad. She has a desktop computer of her own but she's at a point where she gets overwhelmed by anything but simple instructions and she also has a severe intention tremor, so she gets too frustrated to deal with her PC. Do any of you have suggestions for tech gadgets that help your loved one function, or give you a small amount of respite?

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I have a portable doorbell the button is in mums room this works fine for now and so far no dramas. It cost me about $4!!!!
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Viewsonic sells a nice 22" Android base tablet for around $350. It's completely wireless except for power and it only weighs about 10 lbs. This allows it to be easily placed in a convenient location - say next to their primary chair. With this you can now play youtube videos and music from the past. You can even add a slide show or perform finger painting. Just an idea.
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Thanks so much for your replies. My mom has COPD, too, but so far it's mild and takes a back seat to her heart stuff. I will definitely remember the upside-down fan idea for future reference. My tech project for the day is finding out about Roku, for more entertainment ideas, and investigating easy nanny-cam setups. I'm so grateful personally for the technology I have to keep me connected to this forum and many other social websites. I'd be so lost and lonely without you guys, even if I mostly lurk.
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I know with Directtv, if you don't have the dvr, just the regular box, you can have something on and then program the set to change to another movie or show at the right time. That used to help me.
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my mother has copd and the air in this house gets really stale. there is no outside air introduced into the home. i turned the fart fan in her bathroom upside down so it brings a small amount of fresh air into her bed / bathrooms. it really helped. when she complains about not being able to breathe in her room sure enough i found breathing in there difficult too. no effin air movement till i inverted the fan.
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I forgot to say that I have a baby monitor at my mom's bedside so I can hear if she falls or yells out, though the monitor on my end does hum loudy at times and keeps me awake. One of the things I'd really like is a basic intercom that can detect sounds made by my mom when she's in bed or sitting on the sofa watching TV (which is pretty much her world, for better or worse), to. be heard by me in my room and my brother in his room. Someone has suggested a wireless doorbell system between multiple rooms. Sigh. Now I'm overwhelmed :(
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