In the course of my work I sometimes have to assist people with dementia who have become lost, erratic, or are otherwise in need of help. They tend to do things that are more of their time – go for walks to get the paper. Try to get a bus to somewhere that no longer exists. They never have a phone because they can’t use one, etc.
When we all grow older, with our continuous access to mobile phones and the internet, what sort of things do you think someone with dementia might do? Order tonnes of Just Eat to an old address? Order an Uber in the middle of the night? Set up hundreds of subscribe and saves on Amazon Prime?
This is intended to be slightly light-hearted, but I genuinely am curious as to how things may change with this disease in the U.K. once the truly internet-savvy population starts to get on a bit.
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Little different but a couple of years ago my mum had a full on break down. She ordered £700 worth of stuff off Wish.
My dad has dementia and could just about use his smart telly. He would go into Amazon prime videos and keep pressing buttons until the video played. When he finally told me his Amazon password I went in and cancelled about a dozen subscriptions.
He has an Alexa dot and leaves the telly on cable shopping channels. I’ve found stuff that’s been added to his Alexa shopping list with keywords used in infomercials while he was sleeping. That’s pretty bloody shady if you ask me.
I wonder if they access Facebook or forums etc , how they will react to the information.
My grandad doesn’t have any diagnosed condition, but he’s 90 and is memory is certainly deteriorating.
He has an iPad and iPhone and gets on with them quite well.
He’s been scammed out of money twice now so I have a phone signed into his account and everything syncs across.
I don’t read his messages or email, just have a quick look at the senders to see if they are genuine etc. if anything looks off, I delete them quick.
I hate doing it but I have seen a few calls, messages, emails trying to scam him and he’s fallen right into it but luckily we have managed to stop them all since doing this.
In some ways it might be helpful and jog there memories if they can scroll down and see what stuff they’ve posted on social media before, but it also might be confusing if they don’t remember it.
Recently read something in philosophy where people are getting better at remembering where to find out, or look up information again rather than the information itself. Its like the ability to reference a piece of information online is undercutting the process of actually remembering it yourself, the internet as a giant notebook with everything important in it.
Unfortunately being quite old I can’t recall where to look that up again, so maybe that theory is bollocks
Years back now, but in early dementia my Dad just clicked yes to any and all pop ups on his pc. Ended up with 5 layers of search bars and random wizards, not to mention some interesting viruses.
He also understood searching online but not saving pages so insisted on printing out everything that caught his interest. We removed the printer once he was having to buy new ink multiple times a week.
Thump the PC wondering why it isn’t making dial-up noises.
A friend of mine was telling me her grandma now has real issues distinguishing between things posted by friends and the advert just below it. She’ll go and buy random shit because she genuinely thinks one of her friends told her to.
Forgetting passwords or which sites you get your groceries from.
Forgetting that you’ve made an order and then making a second one before the first arrives.
Definitely problems with signing up for subscriptions or signing up to things like amazon prime without realising – I’m pretty savvy but have been caught out on the [amazon.co.uk](https://amazon.co.uk) site.
Getting lost on complex returns procedures, package tracking, or any other hitch to the delivery means you’ll be interacting with a bot, not a person.
My dad had dementia (diagnosed for 3.5 years before death). He wasn’t even able to use a mobile for two of those years and had to have everyone do everything for him. So even though we’d be a lot tech savvier than his generation I still think that a lot of sufferers won’t be able to even operate certain devices.
If I’m anything like my dad I’ll forget how to use a plug and will not be able to work out why my cellphone and computer don’t work and will drive into town and buy another one and repeat that every time it runs out of battery life.
My grandad doesn’t have dementia but is very old. He can not work online banking, locks himself out of it several times a week, has set up at least 3 bank accounts somehow online and never ever reads his emails. He is in the process of moving and it’s been an absolute nightmare as the solicitors email him, he checks it once a week prints everything out (including spam) then sits down on a Saturday afternoon to read it all!! So now my parents are copied in on all emails, they call him wait for him to boot his computer up, remind him of his password and then read the email out to him explaining it and what he needs to answer and how to send an email
Usually once dementia has any significant impact the you’ll likely loose control of your money so most of those things will likely not be possible. Maybe hours on tiktok and other social media. I’d not be surprised to see a lot of people listening to music as that’s a common pastime at the moment among people with dementia it lights their faces up and even gets otherwise non-verbal individuals singing away.
Having seen a couple of people in the late stages of dementia then I doubt most would get near a device. My mum couldn’t even use a standard landline to call for help when my Dad fell and couldn’t get up. He rolled around in his own shit and piss for the best part of two days before the sweet guy next door let himself in – she hadn’t even drank any water all that time, let alone tried to use a phone.
It’s the early stages you have to worry about.
I’m not looking forward to this stage of my life, both parents with dementia and I’ve got the added bonus of bipolar disorder, so I can already spend like a king when manic.. just accepting prepaid cards only already!
My father had two forms of dementia. Very quickly became unable to use mobile phone and computer and obviously then unable to look after himself as he further deteriorated.
I imagine that for our generation the reliance on the internet and more complicated technology will be such a major issue. People who aren’t tech savvy already really struggle getting help with things that increasingly tell them to go to their website to sort things out and cannot easily ring and speak to people. With this only getting worse, and add in dementia, these people will be totally isolated and unable to connect with others.
I often wonder why there aren’t more companies that provide simpler more user friendly versions of technology and tools. I imagine there could be a big market in this.
Hopefully using so many tech based things from such an early age will negate some of the effects that we see for people of their generation, where things were in a sense simpler and maybe a bit more hands on.
My limited experience of friends with dementia is the ability to use a computer or mobile phone is one of the first things to go. Even a TV can be a problem.
My nan got into financial difficulties with catalogues, cheques and credit cards back in the early 00’s but hid all the paperwork until she had bailiffs knocking on her residential home door. She also managed to hide her dementia as she had always been a bit ditzy until her first UTI that exacerbated the symptoms and really put it on the forefront of everything.
My dad’s dementia was picked up as early onset, he’s now in late stage. He gets fooled by email spam adverts and buys junk that’s advertised by mail to him. I know when he’s buying something that he hasn’t asked advice on as he shuts himself away to make a phone call with a credit card in hand.
I have an old friend that got dementia – I had no idea so I was like ‘wtf?’ when he started commenting things like ‘nice tits’ on my Facebook pics. A mutual friend of ours then let me know what was up 🙁 he also sent some messages to me that were mostly just word salad, but with a sexual nature.
This man would never ever have said stuff like this before the dementia – it was very shocking. I was upset that his family hadn’t locked down his accounts – it felt like it wasn’t respecting his dignity to let him act so unlike his previous self. They have done since thankfully.
Check out my myspace and join my webring.
A/S/L ?
I think there will be technology or phones designed for old people who can use Internet features but are as easy to use and restrictive in function as possible.
The complexity of the Internet will itself make old people tired of using it and just settle for old fashion living like listening to radio instead of podcasts and Spotify, sticking to one or two streaming platforms instead of loads or using physical products instead of the digital version.
It’s interesting to see where it’s going and you are better off asking an expert in the field than reddit.
> later stages of dementia
In late stages of dementia you’d struggle to even know what a phone or computer was – let alone use it to make an order.
In a way nursing and care homes have already had to deal with this with just landline telephones. We had a relative go into dementia nursing care and we asked if they got a phone in their room. The nurses actually laughed out loud, in a very kind hearted way. Oh no, they said, they’d be up to all sorts.
By that they meant ordering taxis or otherwise plotting their escape.
I’ll probably be able to relive completing gears of war 1-3 again and again for the duration of my retirement.
It’s an interesting question and one I’m not able to answer specifically but my adult brother has a learning disability from severe brain damage when he was born due to lack of oxygen to the brain. Dyslexia, ADHD, severe short term memory loss, impulsiveness, low IQ, gullibility, and so on. He doesn’t present as disabled, and thanks to decades of austerity and a lack of healthcare he’s not really been diagnosed properly until fairly recently and support is next to non-existent.
With access to the internet, he has been scammed several times because he is so vulnerable and gullible. He would genuinely believe that some Nigerian prince wants to give him all his money. I don’t want to go into details, but two times were incredibly serious. Like, criminal serious. My parents have tried so hard to protect him but they’re getting really old now and they just don’t have the technological understanding to comprehend the risks, and I have my own family and can’t focus on him at the detriment of my own family and life.
We like to joke but access to the internet for people with dementia is like playing with a Ouija board and just gladly inviting demons in. Scams, phishing, the lot. Easy targets for predators.
Your faith in companies like Uber and JustEat surviving another few decades is admirable.
As you intended this to be light-hearted I’ll say this, only slightly serious: MySpace, as we all know, is accessible again as a genuine social media site. I imagine, in 30 odd years, it’ll be full of old folk with dementia who think it’s 2005.
This is a great question. I hope we begin to see technology based tools for dementia diagnosis and treatment. In a perfect world where our tech overlords were benevolent we could have some kind of way of flagging to a family member that you have searched for the same thing constantly or tile data flagging that you’ve lost your keys constantly. Not a perfect system and shouldn’t replace medical diagnosis, but as we live more of our lives online it would be good to be able to get a headstart on things like this if it can help people.
Having cared for one elderly lady ( my mum who died aged 93 ) and my MIL ( still going, 95 ) I dread to think what they’d be like if they’d had any interest in technology as they havee enough problems on the phone etc ( they didn’t/don’t have dementia though I’ve seen friends dealing with it, my mates mum who was like another mum to me, passed 2 months ago aged just 72 ).
I suppose it had its uses. When mum was in hospital during the pandemic they tried to use a tablet to video call but it made her more distressed ( thankfully I got to go in at the end ).
One thing that *does* worry me: I have a background in Benefits ( and still give advice here etc ) and am disabled myself. As some of you might know; we are moving towards UC for all. IF it goes to ( current ) plan; those on certain disability related benefits ( ESA ) or JSA are due to move over in the next year or so. *Then* they plan to move Pension Credit. UC is an online only benefit.
I work with people with dementia and one gentleman tried to buy some flights to Spain from an advert in the back of his newspaper. Luckily the debit card he has doesn’t work so he didn’t actually do it.
Funnily enough this came up in the “objects that were a fad” thread, and I *strongly* believe augmented reality glasses, similar to Google Glass (which came just too soon for public acceptance) will be game changing for daily life in general, but will be really helpful for people with dementia and similar diseases. For someone in the early/moderate stage of the disease who can walk to the shop and back, but easily gets lost, simply “follow the green line” will be all they need. If they’re getting forgetful around roads and the like, a big “STOP!” with a reminder to look both ways could even save lives.
I’m also a big believer that Boston Dynamics robots will move rapidly from “big scary military killer robot camel” to “helpful cute pet dog that can do things”, and they’re already starting that shift. For older or disabled people in general, something like a Spot which can make a cup of tea, open doors, change bedding, load/unload a washing machine, all connected to Smart Home stuff like lights, the washer/dryer/dishwasher, heating, radio, TV, door locks, and so on, will be MASSIVE for social care in this country.