Forget the remote, to an elder it looks too much like the controls in an airplane cockpit.
Every new flat screen that I have has controls on the sides or front of the set. If the elder is mobile, just affix names to those controls. If they are not, it will always be the roll of the dice as to what happens.
In the senior facility where my Dad lived, the maintenance worker said fixing the cable TV's was his number #1 call each day.
My Dad had invented his own remote control back in the 1950's, real easy. One button "on", one button "off". Two buttons to change the stations. Two more buttons, lower the volume, raise the volume. Then he added two more buttons to turn on the sofa light, turn off the sofa light.... like, really??? The light was within arm reach.
Of course, that was back when one had only 3 stations to watch TV.... funny, we always found something to watch :)
Call the provider and see if there are elderly friendly remotes that can be used. I googled and there was one with on/off and up/down for volume and channels. I would get basic service. Then I'd block the channels that don't interest her. Leave the ones with the old TV shows on them. News can be upsetting so no CNN.
I actually put tape on the remote. Covered up the buttons she didn't need to use except for the up and down button and the Guide button.
She has Dish TV and was always selecting channels she didn't need to get into like Pay preview. So I made a "My list" of channels that she likes to watch or browse through.
While never a whiz - my mother knew her way around her computer. Until she didn’t.
So during that awkward phase - between knowing her computer and forgetting about it altogether- mom was constantly calling me to come over and fix it.
It was almost always the same mistake. Instead of opening the first email mom would click on the header - which changed the order of her emails from date received to alphabetical. Or - to mom - her emails were just “disappearing”.
No matter how many times I explained what she was doing and/or how to fix it - mom never got it. This was in the early phase of her dementia and my knowledge there of. I hadn’t yet “got it” myself... the futility of explanation or reasoning.
Of course there here were a couple of genuine computer lock-ups. I suspected that nearly 500 undeleted emails - 80% of them spam was to blame but my computer geek hubby said “no. Not likely.”
And there was that one time that totally stumped me. Turned out the phone jack had been unplugged.
I bought mthr a great tv for her memory care room - color, bigger screen than she'd ever had, and a remote! She wanted to watch her cowboy DVDs, so I bought one with a built in DVD player, and the ability to have Roku! FAIL! She stuffed 2 dvds in the slot, tissues, and her tweezers. My electronic genius kids took it apart and could not believe how much she'd put in there. Needless to say, that TV did not last. It was a pretty ornament for about 6 mos. Now she sits in the common area and watches tv with everyone else, which is much healthier for her.
Your question has possibly answered why my mother won’t turn the tv off. Or change a channel. A few years ago, I put little pieces of paper on each remote. Volume, and channel change on one , and On/Off on the other. It helped for a while.
Oh, yes. I say, shaking my head, "old people and technology!". My mom can't keep it all straight on how to use the remotes and is always hitting who knows what buttons by mistake. I feel your pain!
7 Answers
Helpful Newest
First Oldest
First
Every new flat screen that I have has controls on the sides or front of the set. If the elder is mobile, just affix names to those controls. If they are not, it will always be the roll of the dice as to what happens.
In the senior facility where my Dad lived, the maintenance worker said fixing the cable TV's was his number #1 call each day.
My Dad had invented his own remote control back in the 1950's, real easy. One button "on", one button "off". Two buttons to change the stations. Two more buttons, lower the volume, raise the volume. Then he added two more buttons to turn on the sofa light, turn off the sofa light.... like, really??? The light was within arm reach.
Of course, that was back when one had only 3 stations to watch TV.... funny, we always found something to watch :)
ADVERTISEMENT
She has Dish TV and was always selecting channels she didn't need to get into like Pay preview. So I made a "My list" of channels that she likes to watch or browse through.
This has helped so far.
So during that awkward phase - between knowing her computer and forgetting about it altogether- mom was constantly calling me to come over and fix it.
It was almost always the same mistake. Instead of opening the first email mom would click on the header - which changed the order of her emails from date received to alphabetical. Or - to mom - her emails were just “disappearing”.
No matter how many times I explained what she was doing and/or how to fix it - mom never got it. This was in the early phase of her dementia and my knowledge there of. I hadn’t yet “got it” myself... the futility of explanation or reasoning.
Of course there here were a couple of genuine computer lock-ups. I suspected that nearly 500 undeleted emails - 80% of them spam was to blame but my computer geek hubby said “no. Not likely.”
And there was that one time that totally stumped me. Turned out the phone jack had been unplugged.
Sigh!