So my boomer mom, who has a very limited concept of technology, tells me she has a friend in a rehab clinic where she is in bed 24 hours a day, basically in a closet. She can’t really move her hands and she’s been intubated most of the time so she can’t reliably talk. So she’s just laying there doing absolutely nothing for the entire day like Johnny Get your Gun but with eyes and ears which probably makes it worse.
So my mom’s friend has the intubation tube removed and my mother visits and my mom is fucking horrified by this situation. She asks if her friend would like some music or something, anything, and of course she would, but because she can’t use her hand or reliably speak the most obvious options won’t work, to say nothing of the fact that I have no idea how to even set that kinda thing up on a device (I use my windows PC for everything, I don’t use any streaming services or download audiobooks or whatever and I hate Alexa).
So the question is what is a system that barely responsive person can use to interface with music or audiobooks? Something simple enough that they can direct a nurse or something to push a button every couple hours. A standalone MP3 player with a screen? A tablet loaded with files? I just don’t know.
I’m certain my mother is imagining herself in a similar situation someday, and it’s freaking her out, and honestly it sounds pretty miserable to me also
A radio would be my first thought. Either a simple one with speakers or a pocket radio with headphones, depending on what her situation allows. Doesn’t really need any interaction other than turning on/off.
Agreed, and set it to NPR. If you make it a clock radio, you could set it to turn itself on for a couple of hours every morning to help her re-establish some sense of time, which is very difficult in hospital-type situations. And then a nurse can push the on/off button if she wants more. Tape the tuning dial so it doesn’t get turned to a right-wing talk station.
As an old mom myself, I’d even suggest your mom bring her own old clock radio she’s probably got, because she knows how to set it up already. Then you get her a new one she can puzzle out when there’s no pressure.
(Edited to add a couple of things)
In the same vein, a TV might work too as long as it’s able to receive digital programming. They make small ones you could probably make work.