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My senior mom is getting more comfortable with her "no longer brand new" iPad. When we had the power outage yesterday, she switched from listening to one of her "books on tape" in her little tape player and instead, listened to a podcast I had downloaded to her iPad using the iTunes Music App. While apps like iTunes Music are not as easy as I would like for our sweet seniors, they are definitely wonderful if we can give them a bit of help. She was thrilled to enjoy some old favorite radio shows, along with a travelogue about one of her favorite states – Hawaii. Some of the shows I've downloaded for her include:
- Birdpod – Birdwatching Podcast
- Dishin' in the Kitchen
- Hawaii Vacation Connection
- History Podcast – Smallpox in Hawaii and Texas City Disaster
- Jack Benny Program
- The Harry Morgan Show from Legacy of Laughs (Old Time Radio)
- Our Miss Brooks
- Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy from the Old Time Comedy Radio
- Sounds of the Big Bands with Bill Alexander from Radio's Golden Days
- Ellery Queen and Perry Mason from RadioAmerica – Old Time Radio
- Ray Brown's Talkin' Birds Show
- The Birding Life/Bird Watcher's Digest
I just went into the iTunes store and typed in various words for her interests – bird watching, cooking and recipes, Hawaii, and old time radio. If you or your senior parents are interested in any of these shows, you should be able to just type in the names. If you do have any problems finding them, give me a holler in the comments and I'll be glad to help you. 🙂
I also downloaded sermons for her from Calvary Chapel Philadelphia such as:
- Verse by verse Bible studies on Luke
- Topical sermons on Biblical prophecy
Do you have aging parents learning the iPad and its apps and accessories for seniors? Here are some simple step by step directions I typed for my mom to help use this Music app. The numbers on the arrows match the numbers on the list below.
iPAD MUSIC APP DIRECTIONS
- To start, click on the MUSIC button
- Click on the button for the items to you to listen to (hers are Podcasts, Hymns, Mom's music – big band, etc., and Sermons)
- Click on the episode you want to listen to
- To make it louder or quieter, press and "slide" the little button in the top right corner left for quiet, right for loud.
- To "fast forward" or "rewind" – move the red slider line left or right.
- To stop the podcast, tap the two lines (quote marks) top left – it will turn into an arrow (see picture below)
- To restart the podcast, tap the little arrow – top left of the app screen – it will turn into the "quote marks"
- To return to the previous screen and pick a different show, press the PLAYLISTS button – top left
- To go all the way back to the beginning, press the button with the square in it, next to the smilie face.
- Click (double tap) on a show to listen to it
I'm not sure how much she experimented with the written directions, especially since it was a pretty dark afternoon with no lights. But she thoroughly enjoyed sweet family memories about Hawaii as she listened to those podcasts. Much more fun than stressing over a big storm and power outage, don't you think? And techie though I may be, I had really blown it yesterday. Her iPad and an old iPod with kids' music were the only two rechargeable computers/cell phones that were fully charged. So my grandkids and mom got to enjoy high-tech fun, while I went "old school" with one of my shorthand notebooks. Hip hip hooray – my senior mom was techier than me yesterday! Now that really IS progress! And down right fun! I just went in and gave her a big hi-five for that! 🙂
How about you and your Sandwich Generation family? Do any of you listen to any podcasts – whether for aging parents, young grandkids, or yourself? We'd love to hear.
