The Best Tech Support Services for Seniors

I emotion my 78-year-old parent and bash immoderate I tin to help. But erstwhile she has machine trouble, she spins into a frustrated tech spiral, starts lashing out, and I privation thing to bash with her. The autarkic pistillate who taught maine to beryllium resourceful by sending maine to the dictionary present wants her results the casual way—for maine to hole it successful seconds—while I spot an accidental to thatch her however to assistance herself. Consequently, we extremity up bickering.

We aren’t alone. According to the Pew Research Center, determination are presently 62 cardinal adults implicit the property of 65 successful the US. That fig is expected to scope 84 million—and leap from 18 percent to 23 percent of the population—by 2054. That’s a batch of seniors, and a heck of a batch of tech support.

“Sometimes learning from non-family members works best, due to the fact that we thin to beryllium much diligent with other people,” says Skye N. Leedahl, a prof of quality improvement and household subject astatine the University of Rhode Island. Leedahl performs probe arsenic the university’s main researcher that focuses connected prime of beingness and wellness issues for older adults. The assemblage has a tech enactment programme of its own, a collaboration with a North American tech-support nonprofit known arsenic Cyber-Seniors.

And that’s not the lone specified organization. Tom Kamber, the enforcement manager of Older Adults Technology Services (OATS) and the Senior Planet acquisition programme astatine AARP says successful an email: “Older radical are progressively utilizing tech for learning astir steadfast surviving and aesculapian issues, astir finances and nonrecreational skills—some are inactive working—and simply to enactment crisp mentally.”

Kamber and a corps of volunteers launched OATS successful 2004 to beforehand integer literacy among our older peers. They execute it done their Senior Planet programme (more below) arsenic good arsenic their advocacy and scholarship. OATS.org offers a glimpse into the organization’s 20-year history, its outreach and connectivity programs, and its online assemblage portal/social network. The website besides has an interactive finder that allows you to participate your zip codification to find a Senior Planet spouse tract adjacent you.

And those are conscionable the manufacture OGs. The bully quality is determination is simply a wealthiness of options—some of them are adjacent free. The tech enactment sites listed beneath cater specifically to seniors.

Having different tech options is decidedly going to assistance Mom and I. Having a neutral 3rd enactment robust retired her method issues means I won’t person to resent the unit of being the nonmigratory “tech guru,” and she won’t person to resent my attempts to bid her. It should escaped maine up to absorption connected appreciating the clip we person together. Here’s hoping it does the aforesaid for you and the seniors successful your life.

Senior Planet From AARP

Created successful 2015, the novice-friendly Senior Planet website boasts a cohesive compendium of escaped online content: articles, courses, lectures, demo videos, and workshops aimed astatine our elders (in English, Spanish, and Cantonese). The offerings scope from learning however to usage a smartphone to virtual workout classes to in-person meetups. The premier elder destination served upwards of fractional a cardinal radical past twelvemonth and shows nary signs of slowing down; they adjacent person their ain podcast. The enactment started with 1 in-person determination successful New York City and present boasts outer locations successful North Country, New York; Montgomery County, Maryland; Denver; San Antonio; and Miami. Virtual one-on-one training—via Zoom—is besides available.

Service hours are 9 americium to 8 p.m. ET, Mondays done Fridays; 9 americium to 2 p.m. ET connected Saturdays. Email info@seniorplanet.org oregon telephone (888) 713-3495.

Cyber-Seniors

Cyber-Seniors was inspired by a 2014 documentary that followed a assemblage of Canadian seniors learning to usage the net for the archetypal time. The North American org (it operates successful Canada and the US) offers grooming and escaped one-on-one tech enactment by pairing seniors with pupil volunteers for an intergenerational acquisition that some parties larn from. There are volunteers who talk English, Spanish, and French. The tract features a newsletter, play events calendar, webinar, toll-free tech support, grooming for volunteers and seniors, merchandise, clips from the movie, and a conception dedicated to cybersecurity protection. The enactment has North American partners crossed two-thirds of the continent that person Cyber-Seniors programs (the University of Rhode Island is 1 of them).

Service hours are 8 americium to 4 p.m. ET. Email scheduling@cyberseniors.org oregon telephone (844) 217-3057.

Quincy

Quincy was founded by Ryan Greene portion helium was a pupil astatine Columbia Business School successful 2020 to assistance his gramps and the different mature adults successful his beingness having tech trouble. Remote tech enactment sessions are conducted via secured connections and recorded, should you privation to revisit them successful the future. Quincy besides offers fraud protection: A tech enactment squad reviews your emails, texts, voicemails, and societal media for con games. There’s adjacent a blog with posts aimed astatine non-techies. Plans commencement astatine $5/month, and the institution besides offers 14 minutes per period of escaped enactment to Medicare recipients

Service hours are 8 americium to 8 p.m. ET. Message Quincy’s unit via the chat enactment diagnostic connected the website oregon telephone (208) 557-8466.

Candoo

CEO and creator Liz Hamburg created Candoo successful 2019 aft having “experienced firsthand the vexation that my parents person felt dealing with technology.” Plans for one-to-one tech concierge enactment dwell of a azygous one-hour league ($75) oregon an yearly rank ($228/year for singles, $340/year for couples). Support and grooming are besides disposable successful English and Spanish astatine the endeavor rank level for elder centers, nursing homes, and different attraction facilities. Memberships besides see a escaped how-to library, videoconferencing tools, online buying guides, and a downloadable tablet examination sheet.

Service hours are 9 americium to 8 p.m. ET. Email support@candootech.com oregon telephone (646) 758-6606.

The Smarter Service

Started by concern partners Terry Dry and Greg Boles arsenic “a personalized tech concierge work for older adults,” the Smarter Service offers its customers personalized one-on-one method assistance based connected the complexity of their integer needs. Customers are assigned the aforesaid concierge each clip they usage the service. In-person grooming is disposable successful the greater Los Angeles and Orange Counties successful California; Scenic and Scottsdale, Arizona; and Columbus and Indianapolis, Indiana. Support is besides disposable for elder centers, nursing homes, and different status communities. Smarter Service offers escaped consultations to assistance you prime a plan. Annual memberships commencement astatine $125 per month, but different tailored packages are available.

Service hours are 9 americium to 5 p.m. PT, Mondays done Saturdays. Email info@thesmarterservice.com oregon telephone (805) 765-8348.