Seniors Learning to Use Technology - Mom Heard Voices Coming from the Machine
Technology and mom are not a good combination. When we relocated, we decided not to get a land line and my mother agreed to reinstate her cell phone. For the past four months, we have taught her how to do the basics: make a call, answer a call, hang up a call, and we loaded her contacts into the phone to make it easy for her to swipe up and press. My daughter has taught her, my husband has worked with her, and I have worked with her. Unfortunately, she accomplishes it and then regresses, totally forgetting what she learned. Mom responds with her hands to her face, shaking in frustration because she cannot master how to use the phone, or “the machine” as she often refers to it.
Late last week, I helped her make a call to my sister. My sister was not available, and she hung up without leaving a message. While she was calling, I left her side to go downstairs to feed the dogs. While there, she stood on the stairs screaming at me that there was a voice coming from her phone and wanted to know what to do. Quickly, I ran upstairs to investigate, only to find that there was no voice coming from her phone. No one called her back, the call she made was disconnected; there was nothing. I was unable to explain what happened. Her response was unexpected. Mom started yelling at me because I could not find out what happened. Ugh! The only thing I could do was to walk away as she stood holding her phone, pointing, and screaming at me.
Clearly, mom was frustrated. Learning to use the phone has been a difficult journey for her. The only thing I can think of doing is to continue to help her.
Questions for you:
Does the senior in your life use technology?
Was it easy to teach them?
Helpful Resources:
16 Reasons Why the Elderly Struggle with Technology | Easy Tech Seniors
Optimizing tech for older adults (apa.org)
Why do many seniors have trouble using technology? | No Isolation
Technology struggles for seniors pose challenges to medical access in Covid-19 times | CNN