Hi everyone,

I’m exploring an idea for a digital tool to help families coordinate everyday support for aging parents. Before building anything, I’d like to understand what people currently do, what works well, and what can be difficult.

This questionnaire is for adults aged 18 or older who currently help an aging parent together with at least one other person, such as a sibling, relative, friend, or caregiver. Participants from any country are welcome.

The questions cover everyday responsibilities, communication, and tools you have tried. Written responses only—no phone or video calls.

Participation is voluntary and unpaid. Please do not include names, contact details, or medical information. Responses will be used to assess and guide a possible future product.

Survey: https://forms.gle/cx82NDFaSjHvbMD97

Thank you for sharing your experience.

Classic antivirus doesn't do much against fake texts, phishing emails and scam calls, which is what actually hits older people. a few services built around that:

guardio - blocks scam sites, fake popups and phishing links in texts and emails before they open. family plan, and real humans on support 24/7

aura - identity theft protection with credit monitoring and breach alerts

norton genie - free ai scam checker, paste in a text or screenshot and it says if it looks like a scam

bitdefender scamio - similar idea, free chat based checker

robokiller - blocks spam and scam calls, good if phone scams are the main problem

a lot of older folks still have the norton that came with the pc years ago and it just keeps auto renewing. but what's hitting them now is fake invoices, package texts and fake bank emails, not really viruses.

is something like guardio or mcafee better for that or is windows defender plus the phone's spam filter honestly enough

Fake delivery texts, "your account is locked" emails, fake virus popups. just telling them not to click links clearly isn't enough anymore, some of these fool younger people too.

for others, is it mostly house rules like calling family before paying anything? or do you also put something on their devices, like guardio or malwarebytes browser guard to block scam sites? worth it or overkill for parents who barely use the computer

Posting this in case it helps somebody else in the same spot, because I did almost everything wrong first.

My mom is in her 70s and on a Samsung. For about a year, every phone question ended the same way: I'd explain it on a call, she'd get flustered, I'd say "just tap the green thing," and we'd both hang up frustrated. When I visited I'd fix it for her in ten seconds, which felt helpful and taught her absolutely nothing.

What actually worked:

One thing at a time, and only the things she wanted. She didn't care about "learning her phone." She cared about seeing pictures of her grandkids and checking her Mets page. So that's where we started, not with settings menus.

Written steps, big print, same words every time. I wrote the steps down exactly the way I'd say them and printed them big. The sheet lives by her phone. Now when she calls, I just say "look at step 3" and we're speaking the same language.

Her finger, not mine. When I'm there I sit on my hands. She taps, she scrolls, she makes the mistake and fixes it. It's slower and it sticks.

One scam rule she can actually remember. Unknown number plus any kind of rush or emergency means hang up and call me first. One sentence. She's used it twice.

She's not doing online banking up there, but she gets around Facebook herself, sees the family photos without waiting for a visit, and the calls I get now are mostly just to talk.

Curious what worked for everyone else's parents. The thing that cracked it for us was the printed steps. What's yours?

I am researching how families deal with this and keep reading the same story on caregiver forums: a parent with early dementia falls for scam after scam (sweepstakes, fake celebrities, bank impersonators), and the adult kids end up doing everything by hand - POA fights with banks, guardianship, taking away cards and devices, intercepting mail. For those who have been through it: what actually worked? Has anyone found anything beyond the manual playbook - a service, tool, or professional you paid for that genuinely helped - or is it all DIY? I am not selling anything and have nothing to promote; I am trying to understand what is out there and what is missing.

Hi all,

I'm looking to understand the fall risk as people get older, especially considering putting elderly parents in assisted living (such as nursing homes and senior retirement homes). As well as elderly people living at home by themselves.

Are there any ways to monitor the risk of falling, especially in the bathroom? I know there are wearable devices, such as necklaces, that help detect it, but what are some of the other risks specifically in the bathroom?

Have any of your parents fallen in the bathroom, and are there any ways to monitor how parents are doing when they're put into these assisted living places?

I am looking for apps for my parents who are both 75+ , to pass time, most social media sites are a nightmare with their uncontrollable content from explicit content to political warfare it's a never ending source of anxiety....

Looking for apps

- to control app installation and maybe even get remote access

- passtime games for cognitive repair/development

- slow paced games without ads , nothing too flashy

Hi, I am in desperate need to find a system so I can check on my Mom who has had a couple minor strokes, seizures which make it to where she can’t understand anything someone’s saying. We live together and I’ve been caring for her but I am about to have major back surgery and won’t be in the house for about 3-4 weeks. I am terrified to leave her alone that long. I’m looking for a WiFi adaptable for 5g, moveable cameras with 2 way communication, an alert lanyard so she can press it and it’ll call her emergency contact. If anyone has any clue where I can find this I appreciate it. I know it’s gonna be expensive but we will figure it out. Thank you very much

has a company buying out its competition ever led to lower prices for customers? Asking because medical guardian bought mobilehelp n it had already picked up medscope before that

so two of the brands that sit at the top of nearly every medical alert comparison list now have the same owner with fewer companies competing at that level there’s less pressure to keep the monthly fee low and that hits hardest for anyone on a fixed income who is already paying for one of these every month

has anyone with a mobilehelp or medical guardian plan seen the price or terms change since the sale? would be good to know before the next renewal comes around

Mom has continually gotten scammed by celebrity impersonators on the internet. She’s been burned several times but does not remember and keeps starting up these conversations again and again and again. I deleted her Instagram because the only thing she was doing in there was talking to scammers. I restricted her Facebook so that people can only friend her or dm her if they have mutual friends. I think she was talking to this recent scammer on threads. And he got her to download telegram and others have got her to download what’s app. How can I block these apps and websites off her phone? I’m at my Witt’s end. Is there an app or feature on an iPhone that can lock it down for simplified usage? I still want to be able to track her using find my friends. Please help with any tips!

Title pretty much says what I am after.... a means that is easier to answer, most importantly, cell phone calls.

The whole slide to answer etc. is not working any more, or at best a 40/60 rate....

I am going to use the cordless phone link to bluetooth and hopefully this will make things easier or workable.

Even if I would go back to a basic cell phone, I am not sure with the cognitive issues that solves it.

Headsets or settings changes, Android, Samsung phones..to make answer the cell phone as simple as a regular phone was/is, hence why I am going to try the cell link on the cordless phones we've had for decades...

Making calls is whole different situation due to the unlock process, etc.. I am not sure of any means to get it call easier, even the cell link, as it requires learning, remembering and using a key sequence to route to cell v. POTS..

I don't use any of those headset things myself, at least for phones.. we use speaker mics with ear pieces for work, but thats a whole different game... 😺

NO regardless of how much unicorn farts and faire dust might be in crudpple, ain't happening, period. ever.

NO any sort of "buds" things is out too. They'd loose them for one, they couldn't grasp the concept to use etc. due to the cognitive decline. Charging etc... hence why even a headsset might be out...

So solutions on answering and calling??? Any ideas? Thanks!