If you have an elderly loved one who wants to be able to use their home computer but has expressed feeling intimidated about figuring out how to use this technology, there are things that you can do to help them be a bit more comfortable with this. For many older adults, being able to use a computer can be a gateway to a world outside of their own, especially if they’re currently in assisted living or away from their friends and family.
To help you figure out how best to help them in this scenario, here are three tips for streamlining a home computer for your elderly loved one.
Put The Right Protections In Place
Before you get your loved one set up with their computer, one of the first things that you should do is make sure that their machine is going to be safe for them to use.
Many older adults don’t realize how careful they need to be about getting their accounts hacked, getting malware on their computer, or falling victim to other cyber threats. But since you know all about these things and how to best prevent them from happening to you, you can take measures to keep them from happening to your elderly loved one’s computer as well.
Some of the things that you can do include installing anti-virus software, selecting to have software updates happen automatically, and setting the safest possible privacy settings.
Make Things Simple
Something else that you should do to help make using their home computer easier for your elderly loved one is to set everything up so that it’s easy for them to navigate around their home screen and get to the apps that they want.
To do this, you’ll want to ask about what they plan to spend their time doing on their computer. Then, you can create shortcuts on their desktop to their favorite websites, their email, their social media accounts, their music and pictures, as more.
Set Up Screen Share Capabilities
Another thing that you can set up with your elderly loved one’s computer is to allow them to share their screen with you in the event that they run into any problems while they’re using their device. This way, despite you not being there with them physically, you can see what they’re doing and help them bridge the gap between what they want to do and where they’re running into obstacles. This can be a great help for troubleshooting problems and can easily be done through all kinds of messaging apps.
If you want your elderly loved one to have an easier time with their home computer, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you streamline their device for them.
