Bring Your Senior Dad Into the 21st Century This Father’s Day

The other day here at Keeping In Touch Solutions, we were talking about gifts for our fathers who are in the senior age group. I’m pretty sure that lots of other families are like ours. We hate to admit it but we occasionally fall into the rut of giving not-so-wonderful Father’s Day gifts. For the guy who seems to already have everything, we find ourselves stuffing new socks in a gift bag or buying yet another golf shirt Dad doesn’t need and probably doesn’t like. Or maybe we plan a nice meal.

When I recently saw amazing new statistics about senior citizens and computer use, I suddenly chose to go on an entirely new track for Father’s Day surprises.

According to Nielsen.com, those who are 65 and older have wrestled with their fear and embraced computers. In the last five years, that interest has increased a whopping 55 percent! According to the study, female computer users outnumber males by six percent. But for both genders, totaling more than 86 percent, the top use for the computer is:

1. email
2. surfing the ‘net for printable maps and weather forecasts.

Of course more grandparents are dabbling their toes in the world of Internet shopping, too.

After making this discovery, I knew that I would definitely make this year’s Father’s Day lots more interesting.

My rather grumpy, set-in-his-ways paternal figure can be hard to please. But at the same time, learning computer skills will give Dad a much-needed activity during lonely evening hours. Along with giving him a whole new source of entertainment, we can also provide sweet memories for him by asking his computer-savvy grandchildren to teach him how to use the computer. (That might even be fun to video and send to him in one of his first e-mails!)

If you think you might also want to give Dad entry into the 21^st century for Father’s Day, I would warn you to not show Dad too much too fast. If he feels overwhelmed, he might just turn his head like Dads can do and tune you out. Consider starting out with email. Once his comfort level increases, then you can move right along to webcams and maybe even Skype to keep in touch once a week.

If you can’t be available to Dad or Grandpa every day, don’t forget that Keeping in Touch Solutions can be! And we are more than happy to not only check on him with a phone call for you, but also brag on him a little bit too, for learning something new and wonderful. He may just say it’s no big deal and grumble about it, but inside you can bet he’s smiling!

A daily check-in call could be the lifeline, the joy you give someone that makes the biggest difference in their perception of what old age is like.

Contact me at 317-480-1038 today. Let’s make a difference together.

I’m Diana Beam, Founder of Keeping in Touch Solutions. It is my heartfelt desire for every person to live a happy and healthy life in the place they call home, no matter what their age. You can’t put a price on peace of mind for your parents and yourself. It’s priceless . . . and significant.

For that reason, the goal of every Keeping In Touch Solutions program is to provide a caring connection and service that both the elderly and their caregivers can rely on to make living that good life easier.