Forum Discussion

savvymom's avatar
savvymom
Newbie
5 years ago

Need solution for elderly

I need some advice. My elderly father recently moved into assisted living. TV is his only form of entertainment. He has access to wifi but no cable service. He loves sports and news. I have tried streaming services (such as Roku) but the concept is too difficult for our elderly/ those with dementia.   I can not depend upon the help at the property to attend to his tv needs. I am asking for a solution to make him happy and not receive 10 emails a day asking how to watch sports or he doesn't understand how to use the remote that the streaming services provide. Have I missed a feature that Roku can provide? Need to mainstream and simplify for the user. 

Need a platform that shows only sports and news apps- no other preinstalled apps
OR a platform that shows only a typical tv guide that he can scroll and find programs he wants to watch

AND a Simple remote similar to the version that traditional TV and he is familiar with large buttons (on/off, volume, channel up/down only)

I am open to all ideas- even purchasing new technology to make this work! Thanks in advance.

remotes
  • norcaljohnny's avatar
    norcaljohnny
    Roku Guru
    5 years ago

    I completely understand your position and needs. My father has early stages of dementia and top that with his understanding of web technology being very limited which only added to confusion... streaming vs cable, buffering, channels and so on plus English is not his strongest of languages. 

    So anyhow, what I ended up doing is deleting all apps/channels from the home screen.

    Then I wrapped white tape around the buttons he had no use for and created a app/channel for him with the tv channels he wanted.

    Named the app a name he was comfortable with and taught him how to press and hold the nic button while saying "Launch (the app name)" which would then launch the app.

    I set a cookie saving the last tv stream he was watching from the previous session and had it load and play immediately.

    I also programmed the video to stay full screen on launch and throughout, and only programmed the up and down buttons for keypress events, with up and down changing channels accordingly onFocus. Just like the tvs and remotes he was familiar with for decades., I created a overlay labellist which was visible based on keypresses ,I also prepended fake channel numbers right before each tv channel name ie.

    1 ABC 

    2 XYZ

    I associated numbers to channels for familiarity reasons, which built confidence and really improved navigating and understanding the user interface and flow.

    Anyhow if you need some help or code for the app I created, I will gladly help.

    • norcaljohnny's avatar
      norcaljohnny
      Roku Guru
      3 years ago

      Hey everyone, 
      I am so sorry for the elapse of time since replying...unfortunately my father passed away after a battle with alzheimer's and dementia.

       

      Anyhow if anyone is still interested, a couple of kudos on this post and I will either provide a download link to the file, post it here or github.

       

      kind regards,

      johnny

      • drNcott's avatar
        drNcott
        Reel Rookie
        3 years ago

        Hi Johnny,

        I'm so sorry to hear that your father passed away. He was very lucky to have you to get things like the Roku set up to make life easier!

        I would very much still like to get the info about the setups you did for Roku. If you wouldn't mind passing them along, I would really appreciate it.

        Thanks!

        Tara

    • charliecomstock's avatar
      charliecomstock
      Newbie
      3 years ago

      Where did you get the cookie for the last item watched to show up when restarting? Can you provide a brief description for how you set up the app/channel with his favorite channels? My partner is on her own journey through dementia and your solutions sound great!

      • norcaljohnny's avatar
        norcaljohnny
        Roku Guru
        4 years ago

        anyone who wants help with this or the codes i used, feel free to reach me

         

  • atc98092's avatar
    atc98092
    Community Streaming Expert
    5 years ago

    Well, you really can't get a simpler remote than a Roku remote. There might be some Smart TVs that have simplified remotes, but accessing the Smart TV functions are more complicated than a Roku home screen. I think a Fire TV interface, being so Amazon-centric, would be more difficult to navigate, as would any Android TV device. 

    While Roku shoves a bunch of channels on the home page by default, they can all be removed again to just leave the desired channels. Of course, navigating within each channel will probably differ from each other, but I can't say if it would be too complicated for him. 

    If you went with a Roku TV, then you only have a single remote, again with very simple functions. 

  • HulaLuna's avatar
    HulaLuna
    Newbie
    5 years ago

    My wife works at a senior living facility and it's very tough for seniors, especially those with Dementia.  One solution they went to was over the air digital, which is free and you use the remote from your TV.  Sure there aren't dedicated channels to just sports, but when events are telecast it's a simple matter of surfing channels.  Over the air is free and any cheap rabbit ears work fine.

  • stacey7276's avatar
    stacey7276
    Newbie
    4 years ago

    In order to help him navigate the Roku, set up an ALexa show in his room. You can use the drop-in feature to see his TV and guide him.  Hope this helps!

    • trakster's avatar
      trakster
      Reel Rookie
      3 years ago

      My mother-in-law is in a nursing home and Alexa-type devices are not allowed due to HIPPA. Other facilities may have the same rule in place. If they don't, then Alexa would be a good workaround. 

      • atc98092's avatar
        atc98092
        Community Streaming Expert
        3 years ago
        trakster wrote:

        My mother-in-law is in a nursing home and Alexa-type devices are not allowed due to HIPPA. Other facilities may have the same rule in place. If they don't, then Alexa would be a good workaround. 

        Some Roku players come with a voice remote. The only trick would be if they could understand to press the button to use the voice function. I realize that is the trick for some people. My Dad can't remember anything we tell him 5 minutes later. But he still has the memory to use the TV remote, so remembering a button for voice might work. 

  • Alphaturtle's avatar
    Alphaturtle
    Channel Surfer
    5 years ago

    My wife and I are both disabled, and tv is our only real means of entertainment as well. I'm not sure if they still exist, but we once had a universal remote the size of a school text book. We bought that one because she kept losing the regular ones. As for dedicated apps and channels, we have the ESPN channel on our Roku tv, as well as one called News On. It features all the local and national news networks. I hope this helps!!

  • Aer's avatar
    Aer
    Newbie
    3 years ago

    Lost count how many usernames and passwords to login to channels need to get myself a delorian and get back to 1980s every bloody channel needs another login - cant wait to put it in the bin!