Wi-Fi Tablets for Elderly People
According to http://www.alz.org/facts/ , a new American develops Alzheimer’s disease every 67 seconds. It is believed that close to 5.5 million people will have this terrible disease in 2015, with over 5 million of them being 65 years old and older.
It has been estimated that within the next ten years, there will be more than 7 million people affected by Alzheimer’s disease, as the number of US citizens aged over 65 continues to grow. In the US, about two thirds of the affected people are women.
It’s not a surprise that under these circumstances, more and more elderly people, especially the ones that have Alzheimer’s and an early-stage dementia, are interested in finding out what are some of the easiest, least confusing ways of accessing their emails and the Internet, for example.
The first idea is to use tablets built especially for seniors. And while there are various tablets that could do the job, it may be an even better idea to use a tablet that was built for elderly people from the very beginning. A good tablet example, along with a detailed review, can be found here. That particular tablet is in fact a Google Nexus, but its operating system has been specifically tweaked to match the interests and abilities of the elderly.
It’s a bit surprising, but the mentioned tablet – GrandPad – comes with a full, unlimited 4G data plan from Verizon, so there’s no need to use a router and/or have internet access. Of course, if the signal is weak, a router, especially one with an antenna cable adapter and a high gain antenna like these could be a more than welcome addition, as it is usually a one-time setup device, and then it can do its job for many years in a row.
It is important to know that the GrandPad doesn’t have a web browser. I can understand that this will reduce the risks of getting the tablet infected with viruses and/or other forms of malware, but many seniors are interested in accessing the web through a browser and even use Google every now and then. This could be a problem for some people, but it may go unnoticed for others.
One more thing: the tablet is insured, so if its owner loses it or breaks it, he or she will get a replacement for free. At $60 per month it’s not a cheap tablet, but the good news is that it won’t force anyone into long-term contracts. And when you factor in the unlimited 4G data plan, the price starts to seem very reasonable.