Choosing Cellphones for an Elderly Loved One

No matter how often smartphone technology churns in a new feature, you have no problem keeping up because you've always been a techie. Unfortunately, this is not the same for your grandmother. Your beloved grandma's eyesight has been on decline for years, and now, she can't even tell the difference between numbers and letters on her current cellphone's keypad, much less know how to take advantage of the latest cell phone features.

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Safety for Seniors

Given the chance, most seniors would rather age in their homes than move to retirement facilities. After all, why leave behind a house filled with a life’s worth of memories? Their children, on the other hand, are right to worry about them given their advanced age. Fortunately, there are things you can do to ensure that they remain safe even while they live independently:

Simple Home Modifications

Things you used to take for granted can become real hazards now that your parents are older—take stairs for example, which can become slip and fall hazards. To prevent such accidents, you can install additional lighting (preferably automated) and handrails on both sides of the stairs.

Guard Against Crimes

The elderly are easy targets for criminals, so make sure that the doors in your parents’ home have sturdy deadbolts that can’t be easily pried. Furthermore, consider installing a burglar alarm to alert authorities of attempted break-ins.

Cellphones for Safety

Some cellphone models have emergency monitoring services built into them. When your parents have medical emergencies or if they feel threatened, they simply press a button and a response agent will call 911 for them.

People say that life is cyclical, and this may indeed be true. In the same way your parents use to fret about you when you were young, you now find yourself worrying about your parents’ well-being in return. Hopefully, the tips about will help alleviate the anxieties you have.

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The Vital Features any Emergency Phone Should have

Whether you have to leave your 78-year-old Mom alone or with her assigned carer, it is important to instill a sense of security even if you’re not with her – something to assure you that she’ll be able to call for help when needed. Fortunately, cell phones designed for users like senior citizens are already in the market.

Before picking out a phone for your elder, know the most critical features a senior citizen-specific phone should have:

• Large Keypads. Impressive as touchpads are, they are not always needed in mobile phones. This is especially true when you take into consideration the fact that seniors will be the ones using the cellphone. Remember, their fingers may no longer be as nimble as they were, and so could not navigate touchpads as smoothly as you would. Also, make sure their phone has a one-click function. The point is to find a phone that’s most ergonomic for them so they won’t have to expend much-needed energy unnecessarily so.
• Battery life. The phone’s battery should endure longer time periods, even days at a time. In the event that there’s a power outage and your senior Mom needs aid, she can reach for her phone without the fear of it running on empty.
• Wide Network Coverage. The main purpose of the mobile phone is to establish communication easier. If coverage is faulty, then the device only defeats that very purpose. To confirm this, you can ask for assistance from your provider.

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Choosing a Cellphone Plan for Seniors

Just because you’re moving far from your elderly parents (or they might be the ones moving), it shouldn’t mean that you have to lose communication. There are after all, a wide variety of cellphones designed especially for comfortable and practical use by senior citizens. When you buy them a phone though, don’t forget to take the plan into consideration. Here are some tips for choosing phone plans for seniors:

Type of Service

You should choose a cellphone plan based on the frequency by which it will be used. Some plans, for instance, have rates that vary depending on the time of the calls. If you typically are on the phone with your elderly folks throughout the day, therefore, and only sparsely at night, choose a service that offers affordable day rates.

Company

Next, look into plan providers – each one will vary in the quality of service that they could offer you based on location (since certain providers might have better signal in one community compared to another). You should know your home calling area and compare provider roaming rates for when the calls come from outside the area.

Contract

It’s important for you to know the length of your plan’s contract, and whether or not there’s a “break free” clause that you could make use of in case you want to opt out of the plan in the middle of your contract period. Some companies provide this option, but with a hefty termination fee.

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Integrating Technology into Senior Citizens’ Lives

The trope has always been that a huge percent of seniors aren’t tech-savvy by any standards, and that some even fear or detest using mobile phones or computers. However, this doesn’t have to be true for the elderly members of your family – with enough attention and some patience (both on your part and that of your elderly loved ones), you can eventually help them reap the benefits that technology could offer them.

Stay Positive

Always show them modern technology in a positive light. Show how they can type with a computer more efficiently than they could a typewriter; tell them about the convenience of reaching out to your family members through Facebook or email. With this positivity, you can give them the impression that modern tech is not something that they should shy away from.

The Right Guide

Admit it, you may know more about computers than your elders, but that doesn’t make you an expert. In case they ask you something and you’re not that confident of your ability to answer it, just be honest and instead show them how to get the right answer from credible sources online. It should also be a great way to exemplify just how useful the Internet is.

The Right Tech

With innovations like special cell phones for seniors, these provide a nice little package that not only gets them more familiar with modern technology, but also gives you better peace of mind knowing that they’re just one phone call away. You should also look into getting these for your elderly loved ones.

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Keeping in Touch with the Elderly

Regardless of whether your elderly loved ones are in a home, or in their own place with a stay-in caregiver, there’s barely any reason not to keep in touch with them. In today’s modern times, you barely have any excuse, either. Cell phones for seniors for one, are increasingly becoming a popular gadget. 

Phone
 

Giving them a handy cell phone for senior citizens is a simple but excellent way to keep in touch even if you don’t do web chats or talk via snail mail. More than being a connectivity tool, many phones such as those offered by reputable distributors of phones for seniors also have built-in security services that they can use. 

Family Visits 
 

Sure, they would surely love to see you visit them even if you’re alone, but why not have the wife and kids tag along, too? This will make your elderly loved ones feel that they still hold a very special part in your family. You might also want to keep this a regular thing, maybe once or twice a month – so that your elderly parents will always have something nice to look forward to. 

Letters and Photos 
 

You can also share with your parents those special moments that your family celebrates by sending pictures and maybe even some postcards. This will let them know that you always think about them.

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Condition-Specific Cell Phone Features for Seniors

These days, mobile phones or gadgets are not just for the “young ones”. In fact, there are already a number of cell phone manufacturers that are producing phone models fit for use by your elderly loved ones. Nevertheless, when shopping for one, you should consider the particular condition that you think hinders your family member most, and look for features that can make the phone extremely useful to him. 

Hearing Problems 

Many phone distributors have efficient phones for the elderly that come with hearing aid compatibility, or at least a loud enough speaker. This is an especially useful feature for seniors who prefer to call instead of sending text messages (which can be a bother if they’re suffering from failing eyesight as well). 

Impaired Vision 

The foremost thing that you should look for in a phone for someone with poor eyesight is a large screen with easy-to-see characters. It should also be in a simple design, preferably with contrasting colors, so that they could easily see (without squinting) the characters they’re typing or the number they’re dialing.

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