If you have an elderly loved one that has their own home computer that they use in their senior living community, they might often have a hard time figuring out how to use it and get it to do what they want with this. When this happens, it can be helpful for them to have a younger, more tech-savvy person in their life to ask their questions to and help them set up their computer so that it’s easy for them to use.
To help you in doing this for your family member, here are three tips for teaching your elderly loved one about using their home computer.
Find Out What They Want To Use Their Computer For
Before you start giving your elderly loved one unsolicited advice about how to use their computer and how they should set things up, you should first ask them what they’re wanting to use their computer for. In many cases, your elderly loved one will want to use their computer for different things than what you use your home computer for. But once you know how they intend to use it, you can better help them set things up for doing these tasks.
For example, if there are apps or programs downloaded on the computer that they don’t ever plan on using, it can be helpful to get rid of those items so they have less to clutter up their computer and take up space. But if they want to do things like chat with friends, view their photos, or check the weather and driving directions, making these things easy to find can be very helpful.
Streamline Their Desktop
One way to make their frequently used apps easy to find and use is to put them directly on their desktop.
As was mentioned above, if there are things automatically installed on their desktop that they don’t want or won’t use, remove those things first. Then, you can create shortcuts that you house on the desktop so that your elderly loved one can quickly and easily click on the shortcut and get to exactly what they’re wanting each time.
Give Them Helpful Written Guides
At times, there might be things that your elderly loved one wants or needs to do on their home computer that can’t be done with just a shortcut. In situations like this, you’ll want to write down some directions for your loved one to follow so that they can know how to complete these tasks each time they want to do them.
When writing down directions like these, make sure you include details for each step that your elderly loved one can easily follow.
If you want to help your elderly loved one use their home computer, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you learn how to best do this.
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