One thing that I’ve learned from trying to keep in touch with my parents via Skype and FaceTime is that multi-purpose devices, such as smartphones and computers, don’t work well for octogenarians.
I’m intrigued by the Facebook Portal+ and Amazon’s echo show.
Readers: Have you tried these? Can they legitimately serve to as a convenient portal between non-tech grandparents and grandchildren? Which device is better?
I’ve been using the Echo Show with my 87-year-old Dad, who has Alzheimers. It works unreliably; when it does work, it’s fine. First I’ll describe it when it does work:
He’s got his Echo Show sitting on the table next to the TV, where he spends a lot of time. Next to it, I’ve taped a piece of paper that says “Alexa, call Eric” to remind him how he can get ahold of me; he uses this occasionally and as far as I know it works reliably (i.e., my phone’s Alexa app occasionally rings and it’s him; if it’s been failing, he won’t remember well enough to tell me about the failures).
In the past I’d “call” him by using the Alexa app on my phone to place a video call; but I seem to recall he had trouble figuring out how to “answer”. So I’ve recently set up “Drop-In”, which basically means that I can make the call and get connected immediately without him having to answer. (It also means I could spy on him, but he’s OK with that).
This “Drop-In” feature is what’s unreliable: it works maybe half the time. The other half, my phone just “rings” (by which I mean: it displays a mostly-blank screen with three throbbing dots in the middle of the screen) for however long I’m willing to wait, without actually showing me his living room, letting him hear me, etc.
I researched this for months a couple of years ago and came to the conclusion that there is nothing suitable that provides ease of use for the elderly or even physically challenged individual. I settled for an iPad for my 83 year old dad but it’s really a one-way communication device. He’s just not able to call out whether it’s Facetime or Skype. After the iOS 12 update I was able to set both Facetime and Skype to auto-answer incoming calls after 5 seconds which works most of the time except for Skype it’s an extra step to enable video once a call is active.
Skype was the defining factor for going the iPad route because he would need to communicate with his older sister in another country who somehow can figure out Skype on a Windows PC. No chance of an iOS device on that end.
The FB portal was not out at the time but I just played with one at the Amazon store in Dedham MA and I love the “smart” camera and how it follows the user around when they move so that they are within view at all times. This is a frequent issue for my dad who has bad eyesight in one eye and worse eyesight in the other eye. I frequently have to prompt him to get in the camera’s frame so I can see his face or if I need to check on his medication list or something that he would hold up for me to see.
I went so far as to set up a web page with preset Skype call URL links but unfortunately it’s really not designed for that. It’s more for Skype on the PC. The idea was that I could save the link as a shortcut on the iPad and he would just click on that and it would launch and initiate a Skype call. I think it works fine for Facetime though but he has essential tremors in his hands so clicking or pressing any apps on the screen is really really difficult even with a stylus.
My last thought was to try to set up some sort of programmable Bluetooth button or something (hacked Amazon Dash? something else?) that could sit next to the iPad where he could just press the physical button and it would launch Skype or Facetime to whoever I have it programmed to call and initiate the call but that has proven to difficult to implement too.
This, technology for the elderly, is a market that is waiting for easy to use products, think Jitterbug cell phone, and there were a couple of video calling or video intercom type products out there that seem to have gone defunct.
As to the Amazon Echo Show, it was a front runner in my search but 2 things kept me from investing in it. 1) Cost is too high especially if you need to get more than one. I know I could use one on my dad’s end and use my smart phone on my end but that didn’t appeal to me for some reason. And 2) lack of Skype.
The FB Portal hardware seemed nice when I played around with it. My current objection to the Portal is, I am assuming, that all the communication would have to go through FB servers.
Also, sorry to Amazon, FB and any other device maker who think voice control and Alexa are the future but it’s not happening with the current elderly users. The technology is just not forgiving to the slow reaction times of an 83 year old never mind that his hearing and language comprehension is diminished for various reasons like age, health (stroke), etc..
Hoping some of your other readers/commenters have more insight on this.
My dad (87) married one of his students (that’d be my mother, and if they make it to next May they’d be married 50 years), so he has the benefit of someone 12 years his junior who learned to use phones, tables, skype and whatsapp, making all communications straightforward. My dad winds hands down.
I obviously told the old man that if mum dies before him I’d put him down myself, but he admitted her sorted himself out with poison for such eventuality — no kidding.
Get them a human servant/home-health-aide/nurse/caregiver.
Or move the parents in with you.
Even if you move the parents in with you, get the home health aide, preferably someone who thay will enjoy getting bathed by.
Think of this as an investment in your own future, as a way to teach your kids how you want to be treated once the decline of age diminishes you, as it does us all.
Consider the old as a special blessing. They are our past without the desperate need to accommodate the future.
Be careful bringing any of those surveillance devices into your home. From ACM News, Dec 11:
“…Alexa responded: ‘You’ve been coughing a lot today. Do you want me to recommend a medicine or some alternative remedies?’ … Snoring and yawning a lot, for instance, could be signs of obstructive sleep apnea, so leaked data might impact somebody’s health insurance, or even car insurance rates. A lot of coughing and sneezing might impact employability, too, if somebody seems too sickly too often.”
https://cacm.acm.org/news/233329-smarter-voice-assistants-recognize-your-favorite-brandsand-health/fulltext
We’ve also been doing the elder care hospital/rehab/nursing home circuit. We sort of decided all this tech was too complicated. Current patient can’t even manage the call button what with macular degeneration, stroke impaired hands and brain bruises from falls.
I did see on the rehab cable tv that us cellular has a “grand pad” that looked interesting. (Are they smart enough to target the ads per building? Seems like they were all for elderly Medicare funded equipment, lawyers for failing medical devices and wonderful new drugs)
I can also report that in Flint, it would be President Dickhead. Other patients had other derogatory names. I sensed a general distaste for speaking the actual name, perhaps due to spit pans being out of reach.