One person, one pick per category, no affiliate-weighted top-10 lists.
SmartAgingTech is a small site with a narrow job. For each category of aging-in-place technology (medical alerts, pill dispensers, fall detectors, smart locks, hearing amplifiers, and so on), it names one product worth buying and explains why. That’s it. No “11 Best Medical Alerts of 2026” with affiliate links to all eleven. One pick, one reason, move on with your day.
Who runs this site
My name is Duncan Rawlinson. I’m a photographer by trade and I run a handful of small websites on the side. I live in Canada, I’m not a doctor, I’m not an occupational therapist, and I have no formal credential in senior care. I am, however, the adult child of aging parents, which is the same position most of you are in if you’ve landed here. You can reach my main professional site at duncan.co if you want to confirm I’m a real person and not a content farm.
Why I built it
My parents are in their seventies. A couple of years ago I started looking into the stuff people put in their homes to stay independent longer. Stairlifts, fall sensors, pill organizers that beep, video doorbells, the works. What I found online was depressing. Every “best of” list was clearly written to maximize affiliate commission, not to actually answer the question. The same fifteen products appeared on every site in slightly different rankings. Half the recommendations were obviously written by someone who had never touched the product, much less watched a 75-year-old try to use it.
So I started keeping my own notes. Which medical alert pendant actually has a button big enough for arthritic fingers. Which pill dispenser doesn’t require a smartphone app to set up. Which video doorbell my dad could figure out without calling me. After a year of this I had enough notes to make a website out of it, and here we are.
What makes this site different
The big senior-product sites (NCOA, Caring.com, The Senior List, and the rest) are real publications with staff, editors, and in some cases lobbying arms. They do good work. They also publish ranked lists of five to ten products per category, every product in the list is an affiliate link, and the rankings change in ways that look suspiciously aligned with commission rates. I’m not accusing anyone of anything, I’m just describing what’s on the page.
My approach is different in three specific ways. First, one pick per category, full stop. If I can’t pick one, the category isn’t ready to publish. Second, I don’t accept sponsored content, paid placements, or free review units from manufacturers. I haven’t been offered many, to be fair, but the policy is firm. Third, I’m one person and I’ll say so. There’s no “our team of experts.” It’s me, my notes, and the products I’ve either used at my parents’ place or researched into the ground.
What you won’t find here
No top-10 listicles. No “best of” roundups with eleven affiliate links. No sponsored posts. No paid placements. No newsletter signup, because I can’t reliably send a newsletter and don’t want to pretend otherwise. No contact form, because I’m one person running this around a full-time photography business and I can’t keep up with email from strangers. No medical advice, because I’m not qualified to give any. No claim that I personally lab-tested 47 medical alert pendants, because I didn’t.
How this site makes money
Affiliate links, mostly through the Amazon Associates program. When you click a product link here and buy something on Amazon, I get a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. That’s the whole business model right now. I may add display advertising at some point, and if I do I’ll say so on this page. I don’t sell email lists (there is no email list), I don’t sell your data (I don’t collect any beyond standard web analytics), and I don’t take money from product manufacturers in any form.
The affiliate model has an obvious conflict of interest baked in: I make more money when you buy stuff. I’ve tried to manage that by limiting myself to one pick per category, so I can’t be tempted to steer you toward whatever has the highest commission. More on that in the process page.