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Phones are a real problem for people as they age or experience visual, auditory, motor-skills and cognitive decline. For folks like that any kind of smartphone
by crispyambulance 8y ago
Phones are a real problem for people as they age or experience visual, auditory, motor-skills and cognitive decline.
For folks like that any kind of smartphone with "off-the-shelf" software is a non-starter-- too many options, too small, not tactile.
The problem with "dumb" flip-phones is that they tend to be small and slippery. An arthritic octogenarian will have a hard time even opening a flip phone.
The ones that are "designed" for old folks tend to be setup as "medical alert" devices-- a big red button on the back and all the drawbacks of a regular flip phone. They're more designed for paranoid family members than the actual users.
The phone I purchased for my octogenarian mother is an Alcatel "GO Flip". She has difficulty opening it and the buttons are too small. As a work around I programmed numbers "1","2","3","4" as a speed-dial to me and the rest as a speed dial to my brother. She knows to press "1" for me and "9" for my brother. I tell her to hold down the number until she sees my (or my brother's) picture. $75~ for the phone, $20/month for no-contract unlimited talk/text (she doesn't use text)-- that's it. That's the best I can do.
- seren 8y agoWhich makes me think, isn't it easier to set up a Google Assistant/ Echo to be able to call your relative ? I don't understand why there isn't more focus in assistant to support elderly people because there is a huge market. (but maybe I missed it because I am not affected yet)
- crispyambulance 8y agoYes, I think I would have considered that if she were still at home, but she is in a skilled nursing facility. Their wifi network isn't reliable enough for that. There are also mobility concerns. Something like an echo/assistant would still need to have a "satellite" handset or have microphones and speakers that are good enough for communication with an elderly person in another part of the room. I think anyone developing a communication product for the elderly should definitely spend serious time inside nursing homes. These are challenging problems.
- synthmeat 8y agoThis doesn't come as surprise to me, as I see this becoming a problem for my sexagenarians too. So I train them when I can. Whatever future brings, they'll be at least a little better prepared for it. Bonus tip - if you have a couple of genarians, drop same phones with different colors on them, they can help each other a lot. If any sales exec is reading this - sell them like that.
- ChristianGeek 8y agoI would pay good money for a phone for my 84-year-old mother-in-law that has photo-based dialing and easy access to a ride service such as Uber or Lyft. That’s all she needs. As you point out, a smart phone is too small and too confusing with too many options.
- eli 8y agoCheck out https://gogograndparent.com/ https://gogograndparent.com/
- ChristianGeek 8y agoShe uses it now. When it works, it’s great, but they’ve left her stranded on scheduled pickups twice now.