Teaching Seniors Technology: Make Sure It’s Part of Any High-Tech Gift!

Teaching seniors technology is as important as giving high-tech care enhancing gifts.

More and more older adults are receiving high-tech gadgets as holiday gifts, for good reason: there are so many incredible benefits to enhance safety, socialization, and enjoyment. In fact, of those seniors who report using the Internet, a full 71 percent go online every day or most days, and another 11 percent are online between three and five times per week, per recent research from the Pew Research Center. And that same report revealed that seniors are more likely to own a tablet or e-reader than a smartphone.

Whether you give an older loved one a tablet, e-reader, or AARP’s new RealPad (made especially for older adults, with larger icons, fonts and around-the-clock live customer service), smart devices such as these are meant to make life easier, not more challenging. To make sure your gift is stress-free for your senior loved ones, check out these tech-savvy tips from Senior Care Corner when teaching seniors technology set-up and use:

• Take care of setting up log-ins and registration for (or with) your loved one, and then write down all of the details to keep in a safe location.
• Explain to the senior how to connect to Wi-Fi, if necessary.
• Set up the senior’s email account, including any important phone numbers and email addresses.
• Set up apps that they might like to use frequently, such as Facebook, online banking, and digital versions of newspapers they enjoy reading.
• Adjust the brightness and font size to whatever is most comfortable for the senior.

Whether your technology gift leads to enriching activities such as reading books and newspapers and playing games, staying socially connected with friends and family, or an increase in brainpower—make sure to check back in with the senior to help with any problems that may arise.

Hired Hands Homecare, the expert Sonoma home care team, is always available to help with teaching seniors technology coupled with our home care services, empowering them to stay in touch with those they love and to enjoy all the latest technology has to offer. Contact us to learn more about our professional in-home care services, and to find out if our services are available in your location.