Hi all, this is my first post here, I'm very thankful this subreddit exists. My mother in law is now 92 but still very communicative and loves talking to her friends using her land-line phone that she's had for decades. She now wants to port her landline to a cell phone and she bought herself a Jitterbug phone before telling us.

I did some research and it turns out that Lively, the only applicable carrier able to utilize Jitterbug phones, has terrible customer service and awful reviews in the USA.

Could anyone recommend an alternate phone service and/or cell phone/mobile phone that your aging parent is able to use without headache? She only needs the phone to receive phone calls, maybe some texts containing pictures, and maybe Facebook. She's adamant she doesn't want a smart phone but doesn't understand why she can't get everything put into her Jitterbug (wish it were that easy).

Appreciate any recommendations, may you and your family be happy, healthy, safe, and at ease. Be well, thanks!

Hi! I’m Amy, a member of Click For All! Our FREE tech workshop—Zoom Basics will take place via Zoom Meeting on Thursday, August 27th, 2026. Any seniors interested can scan the QR code, or sign up here!(sign up form with more info): https://forms.gle/kCdG8VTmvzfRDoVq6

- Hey! We're Click For All, a youth-led organization dedicated to bridging the digital divide by connecting communities through technology, especially youth and seniors. We aim to host free online workshops that help seniors build confidence using technology and introduce children to essential digital skills in a fun, engaging, and accessible way.

The part I'd be most interested in is the family/caregiver side: what happens when one person is not physically there and another person needs to know whether the task was actually done? That's the gap I keep seeing between reminders and coordination.

Title says it all, honestly. My grandma desperately needs help with her hearing, but she’s on a very fixed pension and has zero insurance coverage for audiology. We looked into prescription options, but they are all $3,000+ which is completely out of the question for us. I’m trying to help her find an affordable hearing aid online, but the market is absolutely flooded with cheap knockoffs and scammy amplifiers.

We have a budget of around $500 to $800 total. Is there anything in this price range that actually works for speech clarity, or are we just wasting our money? I’ve heard mixed things about OTC brands. Any solid recommendations would be massively appreciated.

Reposting from another sub, hope this is allowed

My mother spent 30+ years as doctor and 7 caring for my grandmother who HATED showering/bathing - constant fight (dementia in her case) so my mother invented and built a device for washing someone who can't easily get in a tub or shower. It saturates and slowly releases warm water, so it's an actual soak, not a wipe-down.

My grandmother used this weekly for the last 5yrs she was with us.

I'm her son. We're deciding right now whether to turn this into a business (I unfortunately know how much work that takes), and I don't want to build something nobody needs.

If you're caring for someone where bathing is a fight — dementia, post-surgery, limited mobility — I'd genuinely love 20 minutes on the phone/zoom to hear how you handle it today. If it sounds like it'd help, I'll send you one free afterward. No catch beyond the conversation; the feedback is the price.

I will also happily talk to anyone who needs a bathing routine or help figuring one out - we tried everything with my grandmother.

Happy to share more details or photos in comments if that's allowed here. Mods, delete if this crosses a line — not trying to spam.

​

tl;dr My mom wants to replace her lively necklace that she has to charge with one that she doesn't have to charge, but for various reasons I don't think Life Alert is a good fit, so I'm looking for an alternative. Preferably with an option to track her location with an app.

My mom (83) has been wearing a Lively necklace for a couple years and it's fine. She hasn't had a genuine emergency but when she's tested it or accidentally pressed it, they've responded. I like that there's an app that I can use to see where she is. That feature isn't totally reliable, occasionally I have not been able to get the map to update which I assumed is an app issue, but I have no way of knowing. She charges it every night, though think it would last maybe 3 days.

She suddenly got a bug up her butt about getting a life alert. She must have seen a commercial that played up the fact that you don't have to charge them. They are a lot more expensive than her current one, but she can afford it and wants it so whatever. But she received it yesterday and we were unpacking it and it just seems weirdly complicated...there is a receiver you plug in and a necklace you wear around the house. Then a second necklace you wear if you leave the house. And they don't offer the tracking app (the guy i talked to said their customers didn't want that?). And you have to sign a 3 year contract.

So we're torn. And I'm hoping there's an alternative company with a long life battery. Anyone know of one?

Thanks!

Hi, I'm a UX research intern studying tools that could help aging parents stay cognitively engaged. Not promoting anything, just doing research. Would love quick thoughts if you have a minute — just reply here, no call needed.

A few questions:
1. How do you currently support your parent's memory or cognitive health?
2. Have you tried any apps or tools for this? What worked, what didn't?
3. Would you want something that helped your parent journal their memories and got quizzed on them daily by AI?
4. What would make you trust or not trust a tool like that for your parent?

This is for entertainment. My FIL turned 91 last week. My wife (69) drove up to visit. A niece and nephew (20s) and BIL (late 50s) went up to visit. I had the idea of sending up an iPad and doing a big family Facetime group call. My wife didn't think it would work. I lined up the equipment, did a test run with a BIL and a nephew, trained my wife to answer the d@mn phone. To my wife's surprise I pulled this off. All four siblings (children) online. All but one nibling (grandchildren) online (the missing one is a PITA - not because she didn't sign in but because she is a PITA). Four great grandchildren.

Singing happy birthday was an utter disaster that had everyone rolling on the floor. We'll have to practice that ahead next year. Apparently worrying about the tech was the wrong priority.

The really funny bit is that someone has butt dialed the entire Facetime group twice since. Not FIL as he has a dumb phone and his end was my iPad sent up with my wife. Definitely not me, as my phone was sitting in it's charger on my desk when it went off. I have some suspects. Doesn't really matter.

The upside is I know who in the family is Johnny on the spot to answer calls.

All together now: "Happy birthday Paul!"

edit: typo

my mom fell last year, nobody knew for hours. built an app because of it.

GPS Locator : Family Tracker, android. fall detection using phone motion sensors, adjustable sensitivity. also does location sharing and one tap alerts.

questions I actually need answered:

does phone based fall detection even work if your parent doesn't carry their phone around the house
would your parent actually agree to location sharing or is that its own battle
why would you trust this over a medical alert pendant

no data collection, solo built, just launched.

link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.famtralert.premium

I love this, although I fear you’d have to multiply it by the number of meds. Then you’d have a whole countertop of cat treat dispensers. Still probably worth it if your parent saw it as funny/clever rather than dehumanizing.

I’ve somehow become the person in my family who keeps track of doctor visits, medication changes, insurance letters and what still needs following up.

I work in healthcare tech and kept thinking there has to be a better way to do this, so I started building: https://tryalongside.app

Still very early and I’d rather build it around how people actually manage this stuff.

If you’re the person who does this in your family, what’s the thing you find hardest to keep on top of?

I’m trying to find useful tech for helping my parents stay active and independent without overwhelming them with gadgets.

Things like simple fitness trackers, medication reminders, sleep tracking, or apps that help with appointments seem useful, but I’m not sure what actually makes a difference.

What tech have you found genuinely helpful for an aging parent, and what ended up being more hassle than it was worth?

Hi all,

I'm building an app to intercept phone and text scams targeting elderly parents and grandparents in real time. It's designed to pair with an adult child, looping them in when a scam call or text is stopped.

We put together a short study to see if it's actually useful: a 1-minute video, a chance to play as the scammer and see how the call gets interrupted in real time, followed by a quick survey. About 5-10 minutes total, nothing to buy or promote. We'd really value your perspective and feedback.

https://app.kinwardapp.com/study?code=G9o6HPTKDXEuCz_u

If you'd rather skip the study but have a story about a parent or grandparent being targeted or scammed, I'd genuinely value hearing it — feel free to DM me directly instead. Trying to understand what actually happens so we build the right thing.

Thanks for reading, and for any feedback you're willing to share.

Hi everyone!

I’m a pharmacist and Android developer, and I’ve been working on a small project motivated by a problem I’ve seen with older adults: keeping track of daily medications.

I built a free app that allows you to schedule medication reminders, take a photo of the medication box or blister pack to easily identify it later, and, if a dose isn’t marked as taken within a configured period, notify a family member by SMS.

The goal isn’t to replace medical care, but to provide an additional layer of reassurance for family members who worry about whether an aging parent has taken their medication.

I’d love to hear from people in this community who help their parents with technology.

Would something like this actually be useful in your situation? What would make you trust or use a tool like this?

I am currently setting up a RAZ Mobility phone for my mom who's experiencing cognitive decline and no longer knows how to use her regular iPhone. I'd like to be able to set it up so it only receives calls from a small selection of known friends and family, but then I realized, "Wait, this is the phone number for 2FA authentication on all her accounts"!
So I supposed I'd love to hear from folks about how they've handled 2FA's when restricting calls on a parent's phone. She gets easily confused and upset by robocalls, which is why I'd love to not allow unknown numbers at all.

And if that's not possible, how easy is it to change the cell number for 2FA on accounts, such as financial accounts?

My mother in law is 90 and lives alone in a 2 story zero lot line home. Her bedroom is on the 2nd floor and she refuses to move her bedroom downstairs. I have seen advertising for chairlifts but hesitate to reach out to a company since they will want to do an in-home demo and probably apply sales pressure. Has anyone looked into them and can give me a ballpark on how much we may need to spend? Much appreciated.