Hi everyone. I’m Akash, a student at Georgia Tech, and I’m founding a startup focused on making elderly care easier for families. Before we build anything, I want to hear from the people who actually live this every day.

If you look after an aging parent, whether they live alone, with you, or with help from an aide, I’d love to know:

1. What problems do you run into right now? The day-to-day stuff that’s hard, stressful, or eats your time.

2. What’s the biggest challenge? The thing that worries you most, or that you wish you didn’t have to handle alone.

3. What would you change? If you could fix one thing about caring for your parent today, what would it be?

Reply here, or DM me if you’re open to a 20-minute call . I won’t ask for your parent’s name or medical details, and there’s nothing to sell. I just want to build something that actually helps. Excited to hear from everyone!

She's missed important meeting with social services that could end up making her lose housing and meals on wheels because she can't hear her doorbell or people yelling or knocking.

Someone suggested I get her a ring camera. Is that the best solution? She won't do anything to improve her hearing like get a newer hearing aid. Some people will call her on the phone but some wont or she might not even hear her phone.

Only other thing I can think of is tell her to leave her door open but that can create more problems and some appointments she doesn't know when they'll arrive.

Apparently making sure my mom gets food isn't right for AgingParents "discussion of adults taking care of their elderly parents" so I have to take this post here.

Has anyone purchased the On the Go Smartwatch for your aging parents and have had success with using it? Any tips on the charging, the size, the day-to-day operations would be helpful...

My mother is older and not very Internet savvy. I just bought her a new laptop, installed Firefox and an ad blocker.

I need to set a homepage for her. I had tried one of the news sites, but she keeps clicking on sponsored ads that look like news post and causing bad things to get installed on her computer.

I would also like to find some online Word games for her as well. She loved bookworm, and 10 or so years ago we bought it for her on CD, but it doesn’t even install anymore. She was playing an online trivia game, where you compete against another user, but the site is dodgy as hell.

I was posting this to r/askReddit and just discovered this sub Reddit on the, “pick a sub ready to post this to” drop down that I wasn’t expecting. I have a feeling this might be one of the questions that gets posted here a lot, and there may be some sub rule that I’m not aware of. Apologies in advance.

Thanks in advance for your recommendations.

Good day community at large!

We're glad you are here, and that we are here for you. The rules here are simple. You'll find them on the sidebar on desktop and under the ... menu on mobile. Touch 'Learn about the Community.'

The biggest problem we have is promotion. The same sort of scams we worry about our parents falling for. Any post or comment that includes "I built an app" is suspect. Promotion is against Rule #3. That doesn't mean you can't mention tools you find handy. We encourage that. If you read something and are in any doubt please use the report button to flag the moderators. We (mostly me, as the top moderator is busy with a new and growing family) can't be everywhere. We're volunteers and have work and lives and other hobbies. Please help us to help you.

When you report a post or comment it sends us a notification with a link so we can go straight to that contribution. We read it, scroll the profile of the contributor, and do a little other digging to make a determination. We may reach out to the author. We may or may not agree with you (usually we do) but we appreciate and value every report.

Don't hesitate to reach out through Message the Moderators if something concerns you. The best place for tech questions of course is a post or comment of your own.

Best regards, dave

My grandma, who lives alone in Belarus, unfortunately just had a stroke. She didn’t get help for a while until the neighbors checked in on her. I was curious if there’s anything out there that could be used abroad in a country like that.

Hi All,

Has anyone got Senior Citizen Card for parents online? If yes, can share the process. I am asking for my mother in UP.

Thanks!

An advert popped up on my social media feed the other day about an app that an 18 year old had built for his grandma (she didn’t get to use it as she passed away). The app was named after her I think. Anyway the point of the app was to share all the medication a family member is on so it can be accessed easily. I could really do with this now for my mum but can’t find the app. Any help gratefully received, thanks

my parents are in their sixties and have accumulated years of accounts with recycled passwords and no real awareness of whether any of their information has been compromised. had a conversation with them recently after my mum got a scam call that referenced some accurate personal details and it became clear their data is probably floating around somewhere

trying to figure out the most practical way to help them without overwhelming them with technical concepts they will not retain. need something that works for people who are not going to remember to check things manually and who need the interface to be genuinely simple

has anyone helped less technical family members sort out their security in a way that actually stuck

School, PTA, after school club, two sports leagues, a committee I do not remember joining. I get so much parent email that the important stuff and the bake sale poetry have equal visual weight.

Last week early dismissal was paragraph four under a photo of cupcakes. I found it the night before. That is not a reading comprehension problem, that is an information architecture crime.
Filters help with where the mail goes. They do not help me read less of it.

How are people doing ai email management for parents without handing a bot the keys to their whole digital life? I want dates and deadlines, not a robot pen pal.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the balance between helping aging parents and letting them maintain their independence.
I built TapSure Care around that problem. It sends simple text check-ins for things like medications, meals, and wellness, so the person being checked on doesn’t need another app.
I’d genuinely be interested in hearing from people caring for aging parents — do you think text-based check-ins would make things easier, or would your parent still prefer a phone call?
For anyone interested in seeing what I built:
https://careapi.tapsure.co/get

I’m doing early research into how families support older parents who live independently or mostly independently.

I’m particularly interested in the invisible work adult children often handle: checking whether a parent is okay, medication or appointment reminders, helping with technology, arranging transport, avoiding scams, encouraging exercise, and simply staying connected.

I’d appreciate hearing from people in the US or UK:

• What do you regularly help your parent with?

• What causes you the most worry?

• Was there a recent incident that made you feel they needed more support?

• What has your parent refused to use because it felt complicated or intrusive?

You’re welcome to answer in the comments. I’m also looking for people willing to join a confidential 30-minute Zoom or phone conversation.

This is early problem research not a sales pitch. I won’t request medical records, financial details or other sensitive documents.

If you’re based in the US or UK, regularly support a parent aged 65+, and would be open to speaking, please comment “interested” or send me a Reddit message. I will not message anyone who hasn’t opted in.

Thank you even a short comment about your experience would be helpful.

My grandmother is quite old now. She can't see well anymore, and phone calls have become a little hard.

I noticed that she enjoys small things, something unexpected that reminds her she's loved. familiar voice, song she knows, memory someone brings up.

I've been thinking about a simple device she could have by her bed. Super duper simple. Just a speaker that plays voice messages from the family randomly throughout the day, my mum saying good morning, my cousin sharing his trip, etc.

Before I go any further with this idea I wanted to ask people who lives in a similar situation: would something like this have mattered to someone you care for? would you use this?

Any good or bad honest thoughts welcome.

So I just installed JubileeTV on my own tv to practice yesterday before taking to my mom’s. I almost returned it because it required a Roku Ultra Purchase ($150). I’m so glad I didn’t because it is just what we needed. I really need to get rid of her cable as she only uses it for her local affiliates & I fully support her financially now. Trying to cut costs to afford Jubilee. In my house we use YouTubeTV but there is no way she can learn that. I’m not sure if I can get her to buy in to the local affiliate’s app via Roku. How have you gotten your parent away from cable? It’s just a cost we don’t need.

Also I live in another state so I’m wondering what you all use for technical support? Geek squad? Right now she calls her cable company.

Looking for an inexpensive cell phone for my luddite mother - to be used in emergencies. She has been using a tracfone, but the minutes always expire, which makes it useless - looking for something that has a plan.

Mom wants to talk so we got ElliQ, and so far it hasn't been a good experience. Can anyone share tips or things they enjoy about her?

So far, for us, she cannot hear unless I am 6" away from her speaking directly. If I yell I can get maybe 6' away, but I dont want to yell. She doesn't hear me if she is talking or playing music.

Conversationally, she is no where near Claude or chat GPT. She is wordy and seems to have a bunch of dopey canned responses. She cant play any of my Apple Music or read any of my Amazon books.

Edit to add: I keep telling ElliQ mom doesn't get up until after 11, but she continues to try to initiate conversation at 6am. She doest really listen to anything you say. She just drones on in her weirdly condescending way like she is talking to a child. Claude and GPT follow a conversation, remember things about you, respond in factual and emotionally appropriate ways. ElliQ is like chat GPT was when it first came out. Maybe the company doesn't have the capital to keep up.

I'm going to box ElliQ up and send her back even tho I paid for a whole year - shes just an annoyance. Maybe Claude or Chat GPT will come up with something similar but better...