iPads help older people get more out of life

Using the iPad to keep in touch

• Email friends and family
• Research topics and information
• Keep up with the news and weather
• Research and arrange travel plans

The elderly can use the iPad to shop and get information

If your ageing parent is comfortable to use the iPad interactively and has an internet connection, they can use it to order their food shopping and other items they may need from sites such as Amazon. They can also download books

Friends and family can load in large photo albums of old photos, or new ones, which can be easily viewed by your parent on the iPad

Using an iPad can assist memory, mobility and social skills

iPads are now being used to jump-start memory, mobility and social skills that have deteriorated through age, Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia.

The iPad’s innovative approach with the elderly could open doors to new geriatric and Alzheimer’s research as the nation’s baby boomers near retirement age and tablets increase in popularity, experts say

Older people read faster using iPads and Kindles

German researchers have revealed that though people from different age groups could read just as well from iPads and Kindles as they do from traditional books, older people read faster using iPads and Kindles

The underlying reason behind such an interpretation is the iPad’s screen, which helps them process the information on the page

A team from Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz in Germany dispute claims that traditional books were easiest on the eyes.

• “This study provides us with a scientific basis for dispelling the widespread misconception that reading from a screen has negative effects,” the Daily Mail quoted Professor Dr Stephan Fussel’s team, who conducted the study with e-book company MVB Marketing as saying.
• Volunteers who participated in the study were asked to read different texts of varying difficulty levels on a Kindle, iPad and traditional paper book. The reading behaviour was measured by tracking their eye movements, and monitoring levels of electro-physical brain activity

Why it’s easier for the elderly to read a tablet rather than a book

As eyesight fades and it becomes harder and harder to see the printed page, so the tablet offers a wonderful facility to their users to simply expand the type to a size that is easy to read

There is no embarrassment to have to ask for a large type newspaper or book. You can simply push your fingers apart and make the type whatever size works for you

Your parent can easily read e-mail from siblings, children and grandchildren who want to keep in touch with them

Even if they cannot type themselves, they can at least receive and enjoy communications from their friends and loved ones

Games, music and films : the iPad as an entertainment centre

On an iPad, the older person can entertain themselves for hours.

They can buy films or TV programmes to watch as it suits them, avoiding fiddling with DVD machines

They can listen to all their favourite music, as if using an iPod and it all plays out through the iPad, so no need for speakers

You can pre-load music for your ageing parent if they don’t want to do it for themselves

They can play any number of games from solitaire to hearts to backgammon or draughts. If they prefer computer games, they can download any number from the App Store on iTunes, or you can do it for them