How to Make Staying Connected With Aging Parents Easier

Posted on October 13th, by Mark Winter in Caregiver Support Tip, Caregivers, Senior Care, Senior Health, Senior Independence, Senior Loneliness, Senior Mental Health, Senior Monitoring, Senior Safety, Senior Social Frailty, Seniors and Technology. No Comments

Perhaps you’ve watched someone struggle with a phone and said something like, “Just tap the little icon at the top.” Which little icon? The square one? The camera? The arrow? The three dots whose purpose changes depending on which screen you’re looking at? Instructions that seem obvious when you use technology every day can sound like directions to a hidden treasure when you don’t, which can have a profound effect on staying connected to aging parents digitally.

If an older loved one has trouble texting or video calling, more detailed explanations aren’t always the solution. Often, the best thing you can do is make the entire process require less remembering, searching, and troubleshooting.

A few simple changes, like these recommendations from our home care team, can make staying connected much easier.

Instead of explaining where to find people, put people where they’re easy to find. Add the contacts your loved one uses most often to Favorites and include recognizable photos whenever possible. Create shortcuts if the device supports them and keep those contacts in predictable locations. The fewer screens your loved one has to search, the less likely they are to abandon the attempt.
Instead of adding communication options, subtract some. Having five different ways to reach someone may sound convenient, but every additional app comes with its own buttons, menus, notifications, and peculiar little rules. Decide which method your loved one will use for video calls and which one they’ll use for messages, then encourage relatives to stick with those choices.
Instead of repeating instructions, change the setup. If your loved one consistently struggles to read a button or tap the correct icon, another explanation may not accomplish much. Increase text or icon size, adjust brightness and contrast, check the volume, and explore relevant accessibility settings. A device that’s easier to see, hear, and operate requires less instruction in the first place.
Instead of saying “You know how to do this,” give them a reference. Write down the steps for common tasks in plain, specific language. “Tap Linda’s picture” is more useful than “Go to your contacts,” particularly if your loved one doesn’t use the word contacts for the list of people stored in the phone. Screenshots, photos, or even simple drawings can help make directions recognizable later.
Instead of teaching several things at once, choose one useful skill. If your loved one wants to video call the grandchildren, practice that process repeatedly. Let them do the tapping while you provide guidance, and give them enough time to work out the next step before stepping in. Once that task becomes familiar, you can decide whether anything else actually needs to be learned.
Instead of insisting they initiate every conversation, make answering easy. Starting a video call can involve several steps, while answering one may require only a tap. Ask relatives and friends to call at predictable times so your loved one can concentrate on answering and enjoying the conversation. Regular calls also provide natural practice without making technology itself the main event.
Instead of correcting every mistake, solve the problem that matters. If a video call disconnects, call back. If your loved one accidentally closes a message, help them find it again. Not every mistake needs to become a lesson about what went wrong and how to prevent it forever. Sometimes getting Grandma back to the conversation is more important than conducting a forensic investigation into how she arrived in the weather app.

There’s another advantage to simplifying technology this way: success becomes easier to repeat. When your loved one knows where important contacts are, recognizes the few tools they use, and has clear instructions nearby, they’re less dependent on remembering something they were shown weeks ago.

You also don’t have to eliminate every technology problem. If your loved one can answer calls, read messages, look at photos, and participate in video chats, the device is already doing some of its most valuable work.

Connection Can Happen Off-Screen, Too

Texts and video calls can help an older adult stay involved with children, grandchildren, siblings, and friends, but technology is only one source of connection. Regular time with another person can be just as important, especially for someone who spends long stretches alone at home.

Hired Hands Homecare offers senior companionship services, including help with small technology obstacles when they arise. If someone you love in Napa, Novato, San Rafael, or the surrounding areas could use more opportunities for conversation, connection, and support at home, call us at (866) 940-4343. Let us show you how a little extra company can make home a more connected place.