Samsung SmartThings Family Care aims to help with elder care

If you aren’t already helping to care for elderly loved ones who want to stay in their home as they age, you might be soon. According to the Mayo Clinic, about one in three adults in the U.S. are doing just that. Today, Samsung announced a new service based on its SmartThings smart home platform that can help.

“We developed Family Care to address the persistent, real-world challenges families face in a rapidly aging society,” said Samsung Electronics’s executive vice president and head of SmartThings Jaeyeon Jung: “By integrating advanced AI technology, we aim to provide smarter, more intuitive solutions that enhance the quality of life for our customers and their loved ones.”

While the service doesn’t depend on a SmartThings Station hub, it does require the person being cared for to use a Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

One of the best—and most privacy-conscious—ways for a remote caregiver to know their loved one is OK is to be notified when they deviate from their daily routine. Samsung says Family Care recognizes the first activities of the person’s day—such as using their smartphone—and sends a notification to that effect to the caregiver. If such an alert is not received by a given time, the caregiver will be notified of that as well.

This news story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart home systems.

Using the Galaxy phone’s GPS functions, caregivers can be notified when the person they’re caring for leaves or arrives back at home, which can be helpful to ensure they’ve attended scheduled doctor appointments or pharmacy visits.  

Since many elderly people take prescription medications, family members can receive reminders to take their doses, check their blood pressure and glucose levels, and schedule doctor appointments through their Galaxy smartphone or on their Samsung smart TV.

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Finally, caregivers can use the SmartThings app—and a SmartThings Station—to set up automations that will turn off compatible appliances when no one is home, programming their smart thermostat to heat and cool the home more efficiently, and activating a connected air purifier when there are high levels of outdoor pollutants.

Samsung’s Family Care service can be downloaded from the Life tab of the SmartThings app, and Samsung says it plans to expand the service in the future. There is currently no cost attached to the service.

Amazon launched an ambitious subscription service for caregivers—dubbed Alexa Together—back in 2022 (read our Alexa Together review), which relied on the person being cared for having an Amazon Echo smart speaker or display. Amazon’s service also included support for third-party fall-detection devices.

Amazon discontinued the $20-per-month/$200-per-year service in June, 2025. Links to Alexa Together now point to Amazon’s $6-per-month/$60-per-year Alexa Emergency Assist service, a much more general monitoring system that isn’t specifically geared toward remote elder care.