Staying in contact with 96 year old gran

Puddings

Hi

I wonder if there's a way of staying in contact with my gran via different methods easily. I do call her but she is very hard of hearing and, as much as I hate to admit it, speaking on the phone is a bit of a chore, maybe for us both. I know this makes me a bad granddaughter.. 

She is a 4 hour drive from me and suddenly finds herself living alone. I'd like to be able to text message her daily and also video call/send photos but I need a device that's really really easy for her to use. I'm thinking big buttons, full keyboard maybe, excellent sound? Also her son (my dad) lives abroad so would be good for him to keep in touch too. 

She does not have Internet so would need to be able to take a sim card. 

Any thoughts or ideas? I will be visiting her at the end of this month. 

Thank you. 

McKneff

Granny's are old school, they like plain old fashioned letters with photos in 5hem. 
That might be inconvenient for you but it will be so much easier for her 

Sea_Shell

Rather than being able to have live conversations, do you think she'd appreciate regular old fashioned hand written letters instead?

Tell her all your news and general chit chat.

Is she still able to write back?

Maybe include an SAE if she may not be able to afford postage.  Can she post letters (or have someone post them)?

My Gran loved to keep all her letters and cards.  They can be reread over and over.

Robin9

Agree with McKneff - 

 Yes some granny's are tech savvy - my MIL used to try to keep up but really she found social media rather hollow.

HampshireH

Sea_Shell said:

Rather than being able to have live conversations, do you think she'd appreciate regular old fashioned hand written letters instead?

Tell her all your news and general chit chat.

Is she still able to write back?

Maybe include an SAE if she may not be able to afford postage.  Can she post letters (or have someone post them)?

My Gran loved to keep all her letters and cards.  They can be reread over and over.

Completely Agree with letters, my nan writes to her friends and loves receiving letters.

But at 94 she is also on Facebook, has WhatsApp and email. She said to me last week her friend she hasn't seen in ages had emailed her rather than written.

I think we often write off older people are unable but depending on their capacity many are more than capable of stepping into the modern world.

Your gran may be much more on board with this if she could communicate and see your dad more often 😊

The Grandpad looks great but it's pricy with a monthly payment.

My nan had an Acer tablet but I personally think Kindles are very user-friendly

Puddings

Oh, of course, writing to her! I used to do that all the time, I will absolutely start doing that again and have actually already sent her some stamped addressed envelopes as I try to help her with paperwork and financial things she not too sure of. POA is something she like me to set up for her, which is something else I need to look into. 

She would definitely love to be able to 'see' my dad and the family abroad so I'll keep looking for something suitable - money isn't too much of an object if it means she's less alone. 

Thank you so much for the suggestions so far. 

Savvy_Sue

I'd encourage her to get her hearing looked at, especially if she has hearing aids but doesn't get on with them.

If she can master video calls, Jitsi has automatic captions. They're not 100% but can help. And it's easier than Teams and Zoom IMO, if she can receive the link.

Two big IFs there I'm afraid.

My mother used to manage email on a laptop but it was a bit of a slog, and small devices were hopeless for her.

Puddings

Thank you, I'll take a look at jitsi.

I definitely need to help her look at new hearing aids, these ones don't seem to be any use at all! 

Jude57

Savvy_Sue said:

I'd encourage her to get her hearing looked at, especially if she has hearing aids but doesn't get on with them.

If she can master video calls, Jitsi has automatic captions. They're not 100% but can help. And it's easier than Teams and Zoom IMO, if she can receive the link.

Two big IFs there I'm afraid.

My mother used to manage email on a laptop but it was a bit of a slog, and small devices were hopeless for her.

I couldn't agree more. Sometimes people aren't aware of how good modern hearing aids are, nor how discreet they are. My dearest friend has quite severe hearing loss and it took literally years to get her to have a hearing test and get fitted for her first aids but it changed her life. She'd become quite isolated because friends found having to repeat themselves wearing over time and my friend couldn't follow group conversations or anything at all against loud background noise so missed a lot of what was being said.

I'd also make sure your grandmother has a landline phone with a good volume control so she can turn up the incoming call volume and reduce the repetition or the caller having to shout. My friend said she felt that friends and family thought she was stupid and were very sharp and condescending with her, but in fact they had to shout to be heard, which put a strain on them, made my friend feel bad and damaged their relationships with her. Things are much improved now that they can converse at a normal volume.

GaleSF63

My mother was really very deaf. I got her a gadget that fitted between the phone and the receiver but couldn't fit it because the phone was too old. She still had a BT rented landline, so I phoned BT about a new phone. A very nice lady arranged to send one they recommended to those who are hard of hearing and it was amazing; my mother was able to have easy conversations for the first time in years (without her aid in). We were able to do crosswords and puzzles over the phone (I was on a suitable tariff). I recommend looking at BTs phones for something suitable. 
But I also recommend writing letters and sending postcards.

Savvy_Sue

Puddings said:

Thank you, I'll take a look at jitsi.

I definitely need to help her look at new hearing aids, these ones don't seem to be any use at all! 

Have you checked they don't need new batteries? And that the earpiece isn't blocked by wax? And if they're working, but you can hear them whistling, the earpiece isn't in properly, and the wearer may be blissfully unaware.

The aids will beep when the battery runs low, but the wearer may not hear this. They also almost certainly make a sound when switched on - I'd hope you (as a young person) would be able to hear this if you hold the earpiece close to your ear but I can't be sure because my hearing aid has just died ...

Changing batteries and even switching on and off can be fiddly. Also the tube should be changed every 6 months, and that's beyond me.