Stay in Touch With the Older Generation

It's not surprising that today's seniors are getting out of the house and on the go more than ever. With social outings, extensive travel and busy calendars, being retired doesn't mean sitting around the house waiting for the phone to ring. So how do you keep in touch with your parent if they are opposed to owning a cell phone?

While it might seem like everyone over the age of 12 now carries one, cell phones are still looked down upon by many in the older generation. One of the biggest reasons that many aging parents don't want a cell phone is because of many unnecessary functions, hard-to-hold designs and confusing features that are incorporated into virtually every phone on the market.

Buying your technophobic parent a cell phone to help stay in touch isn't a lost cause, however, thanks to the Jitterbug. The no-frills phone, aimed at fulfilling the low-tech needs of "baby boomers and beyond," was co-designed by Martin Harris, the man responsible for the very first cellular phone in 1973. Harris, along with his wife and fellow Jitterbug creator Arlene, believes that peace of mind for older parents and their children wanting to stay in touch should be afforded to all.

"When I invented the original cell phone, the intent was simply to connect with a person rather than a place," said Martin Harris. "Over the years, cell phones have become too complex. Jitterbug gets us back to how we envisioned cell phones at the start."

Even though the phone is simple, two basic models are currently available to ensure that the proper phone is fit with the right kind of user. Jitterbug Dial offers a keypad with large buttons and resembles a standard cell phone, while the OneTouch model provides the ease of pushing three buttons that reach a 24-hour operator, 911 emergency services and a button that can be customized to the number your aging parent calls most often. For more information, call toll-free at 1-866-681-7107 or go online to the Web site at the link below.