Calling someone used to be remarkably straightforward. You picked up the phone, dialed a number, and talked. We have somehow improved upon this system by introducing passwords, usernames, verification codes, software updates, Wi-Fi connections, disappearing buttons, mysterious icons, and several competing apps.
For those of us who use these tools every day, the extra steps have become almost invisible. But for an older adult who didn’t spend decades tapping, swiping, downloading, updating, and troubleshooting, every additional step is another opportunity to get stuck, greatly impacting senior communication.
If you’d like an older family member to text or video call more often, teaching them more about technology may not be the answer. It may be more useful to make the technology ask less of them. The goal is to shorten the distance between “I’d like to talk to my granddaughter” and actually seeing her face. Here are six ways to remove some of the obstacles.
- Build the screen around people, not apps. Think about the handful of people your loved one communicates with most often and make those people exceptionally easy to find. Add them to Favorites, create shortcuts where possible, and use recognizable photos in their contact information. You might even arrange the phone or tablet around the people they actually want to reach rather than around the apps themselves. “Tap Susan’s picture” is considerably easier to remember than “Open FaceTime, go to Contacts, find Susan, and tap the video icon.”
- Give them fewer ways to connect. Your family may use regular texting, FaceTime, WhatsApp, Messenger, Zoom, and assorted group chats without giving it much thought. Offering more options, however, doesn’t necessarily make communication easier. Choose one primary method for video calls and another for messages, preferably tools your loved one already understands or finds intuitive. Then ask family members to use those methods consistently.
- Get rid of the digital clutter. Take a look at the device through your loved one’s eyes. Is the home screen crowded with apps they never use? Are notifications constantly appearing? Are the text and icons unnecessarily small? Remove rarely used apps from the main screen, increase text or icon size if needed, adjust brightness and volume, and turn off notifications that aren’t useful. Explore accessibility settings that can make tapping, reading, hearing, or speaking to the device easier as well. Sometimes what looks like difficulty understanding technology is really an icon that’s hard to see, a button that’s easy to miss, or audio that’s difficult to hear.
- Break down instructions until each one is mastered. You don’t need to explain everything a smartphone can do when the immediate goal is simply making a video call. Pick one useful task, such as calling Sarah, and practice that exact process several times. Then have your loved one try it while you watch. Give them enough time to remember the next step before jumping in to help. Once that process feels familiar, move on to something else. Learning three things they actually use is far more valuable than vaguely remembering twenty things they were shown once.
- Write down instructions in a way they can understand. “Open the app” makes perfect sense if you already know what an app is and which one you’re supposed to open. Instead, describe exactly what appears on the screen: “Tap the green PHONE button at the bottom.” Screenshots or photos can make directions even easier to follow. Keep instructions short and place them somewhere easy to find.
- Make it easier to receive calls, too. Initiating a video call may always be harder than answering one, and that’s perfectly fine. A predictable calling routine can work around the problem. Grandchildren might video call on Sunday afternoons, or siblings could take turns checking in during the week. When something goes wrong, resist turning every mishap into another lesson. If the call gets disconnected, call back. If a message disappears, help find it. Repetition builds familiarity.
We Can Help!
Technology can make it easier to stay close to the people we love, and sometimes a little help is all that’s needed to get past the screen and into the conversation. We’re always on hand to help an older adult stay connected to family and friends, whether that means getting a video call started, finding a message from the grandkids, or simply having someone nearby to share the day with.
If someone you love in Burlington, Mt. Pleasant, Fort Madison, or anywhere else in Southeast Iowa could use a little extra help staying connected, contact us at 800.791.7785 to learn more about our home care services.