Home alone on dark nights - how to keep occupied

Fruball

great suggestion of the wii fit..... even if she thinks she is too old for it, its probably a great investment for her

Olliebeak

There is actually quite a 'push' with local authorities trying to make sure that our older generation become computer savvy and don't get left behind/miss out on what's available on-line.

Lots of classes for them in neighbourhood centres, often led by older people who can best explain in their 'own language' instead of 'geeky computer speak'.

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/work-and-learning/technology-and-internet/

ceridwen

...and if she does get online then there are a lot of free books and free films to see on there.

For free reading, for instance, theres Project Gutenberg.

YouTube has a "movie" channel - with a choice of free films to watch.

EDIT:

www.youtube.com/movies

for the films

and

http://www.archive.org/details/gutenberg

for the books

Primrose

Thanks for all your suggestions. As she's more of an acquaintance than a close friend, I'm not too sure of her financial situation but I'm sure if only she could "up her game" by attending a computer literacy class, she would increase her confidence and find that her computer could be a real friend in connecting her to the outside world, even on dark nights when she's on her own. They do run daytime computer classes in our area. I'll have to try and persuade her to book onto one. I must confess, I spend quite a lot of time on these forums, and sometimes do, (to the expense of getting my cupboards, drawers and other domestic cubby holes sorted out and de-cluttered) but I think it would be difficult to feel lonely when engaging with so many interesting people on here who always have something useful to say, contribute and share. It's sad that many older people are still so scared of the internet when it can offer so many opportunities for engaging with others.

Pitlanepiglet

I'd echo the point Paulie's Girl made re lighting, she might be putting off some of the things she could do because she struggles to see well. Encourage her to get a decent anglepoise lamp or similar, Ikea do a small floorstanding lamp anglepoise type lamp for around £15, I've bought a couple for Dad as he struggles to read the paper without a direct source of light. It took me ages to convince him that the light would help though, I think he'd just though it was an inevitable consequence of being old...

katholicos

Tried to add a p.s. to my earlier response (via mobile phone at 2am when i thought of it LOL!!! it didn't send it though)...audio books! My parents had never listened to them before but I found 6 or 7 audio books when i was having a bit of a clear out ..i'd bought them from a charity shop last summer...and now Dad is housebound and Mum as his main carer is also largely housebound, i took them over and they have really enjoyed listening to them. It just passes an hour or two in the evening and Mum said she found it really relaxing. Though i suppose that rather depends on what kind of audio book it is! Anyhow, the library is a great resource when it comes to audio books, and i have often seen them in charity shops, so it doesn't have to be costly.

whiteguineapig

my mum is a jigsaw addict , she gets them from charity shops, she also is a crossword addict,
she records a lot of stuff and re watches them too, she likes detective but not too violent, poirot type things, (theres a new one on this week apparently lol)

SUESMITH_2

my fil took a daytime computer course when he was in his late 70s and has never looked back, our son even set him a website up about walking with a forum (he's still keen long distance walker). he chats with many like minded people and its done him the world of good. yes he still reads, does jigsaws etc. but likes the fact he can log on anytime and find things that interest him

PasturesNew

I'd not want my parents getting a computer ... they're too vulnerable to all kinds of shennanigans on the Internet, like phishing etc. They'd click and give away all their banking secrets without a moment's thought - even if instructed 1000x not to do it.

Then there's all the faffing about with computers that sometimes happens, when it doesn't work. They struggle with flicking a switch on the telly and getting a picture to appear some days, seriously.

mardatha

Computers open up the world to people like me who dont get out much