Forum Discussion

RandyD's avatar
RandyD
Reel Rookie
4 years ago

Feature Request: Easier Channel usage for Seniors, Elderly, and those with Dementia.

My 92 year old mother suffers from some dementia and is a nursing home.  The nursing home recommended a Roku TV, since their cable selections are very limited.
She likes to watch TCM or Fox News.

My mother has difficulty with the remote, but the issues aren't with the remote itself. The remote is pretty simple.  The issue are the channel apps.  There are too many options and vertical and horizontal menus.

I suggest Roku app writers create an Elderly/Senior channel in addition to their full scaled app that provides tons of options and selections.

It would be wonderful if there was a TCM-Senior channel that would just play the LIVE TCM on West or East with no additional choices.  Similarly, it would be nice if FoxNews-Senior would just play Live Fox News only, with no choices.

I think it would be useful to have senior channels that play CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS, etc. with no further options.  It would only play the LIVE option.

Those with less abilities to navigate through the channels could simply use the home screen, move up/down/left/right, and press OK to start the channel without any further interaction.

Many of the people in Assisted Living or Nursing Homes cannot delve deep into the channel's selections, nor would be able to find/decide one of 10,000 movies or shows to watch.  They just want to watch a TV similar to how it was like in 1960, before streaming, DVRs, Betamax, etc.

5 Replies

  • DPS4's avatar
    DPS4
    Newbie
    4 years ago

    Definitely! Even those tech-timid citizens without dementia could benefit from fewer choices on the main screen. An option to delete the squares they are not interested in or choose a select few at setup would be phenomenal. Also, for those who do not go online, being able to unsubscribe from channels directly from the television rather than logging in to another device would be very helpful. 

     

  • davidmmott's avatar
    davidmmott
    Newbie
    4 years ago

    I 1000% agree.   Perhaps there’s even a market here for Roku to sell “advanced age” players and remotes!   with all the features you mention. 

    • MilesT's avatar
      MilesT
      Roku Guru
      4 years ago

      Maybe Roku could partner with Doro who make easy to use Smartphones for Seniors.  And also home alert devices (safety pendant etc).

      A version of Streambar could work quite well as a home alert hub, with a safety pendant reusing capabilities of voice remote pro (for small apartments at least), or adding longer range ZigBee wireless networking. Blending capabilities of Doro CareIP range with Streambar. Would need 4g mobile connection as voice line backup and for allowing telemedicine sensors.

      • RandyD's avatar
        RandyD
        Reel Rookie
        4 years ago

        Thank you for your suggestion. I think that's a decent recommendation for some people.

        There are seniors/elderly that can't even use a Lively Jitterbug Flip 2 phone, and that is the most simple flip phone I could find.
        My mother-in-law can't use an Amazon Echo (Alexa) because she can't construct and verbalize a sentence quickly enough before Alexa times out.

        My initial suggestion was for more handicapped people.  In many long-term facilities, the broadcast stations are the only things provided, but Internet availability allows the occupants to use Roku or tablets.  In my particular case, I bought a TCL TV with built-in Roku since the facility doesn't want too many wires, plugs, etc.

        Again, thanks for your suggestion.

  • AnnKP's avatar
    AnnKP
    Newbie
    2 years ago

    Agreed! I am looking into a Caavo JubileeTV system now, which is meant to resolve this (with yet another device and a not small monthly fee). It just seems like Roku is well positioned to add a line of products and features focused directly on the seniors market.

    The main thing I need is to be able use a mobile app to manage my mother's tv from a different location. It would also be great if the remote came with customizable /programmable buttons instead of presets for just the big streaming apps.