Setting Up Technology When a Parent Moves into Care

A move into an aged care home is a big change, and the technology often gets sorted in a rush at the worst possible moment. A parent leaves a home they have lived in for decades, and somewhere in the boxes is a phone, a tablet, maybe a laptop, and a tangle of accounts that only they understood.

The good news is that the tech side does not have to be hard. A small, simple setup, sorted in the first week or two, can keep your parent in touch with the family and make the new place feel less cut off. This guide walks through what to take, what to leave behind, and the few things worth checking before moving day. It is one part of the wider job of helping a parent go online.

Check the Wi-Fi before you assume anything

This is the one that catches families out. It is easy to picture a care home with Wi-Fi throughout, the way a hotel has. In practice, resident Wi-Fi in Australian aged care is still patchy. Some homes have good coverage in every room, others offer it only in shared lounges, and some do not provide it for residents at all. It varies a lot from place to place, and it is improving slowly rather than quickly.

So ask directly, before the move. Is there Wi-Fi a resident can connect to in their room. Is there a password, and who do you ask for it. Is it reliable enough for a video call, or does it drop out. The staff will be used to the question. If the answer is yes and it works well, you are sorted. If it is patchy or only covers the lounge, plan around it.

When there is no usable Wi-Fi, the simplest fix is a device with its own mobile connection. A tablet with a SIM, or a phone on a plan with enough data, will get your parent online anywhere there is mobile coverage, no facility Wi-Fi needed. Telstra, Optus and TPG all sell SIM-only data plans, and the staff or other families will often know which network has the best signal in that building.

Keep it to one or two devices

The temptation is to bring everything from home so nothing is lost. Resist it. A room in care is small, and a pile of devices, chargers and cables becomes clutter that nobody uses and staff have to work around. Pick the one or two things that earn their place.

For most people, a tablet is the most useful single device in care. The screen is big enough to see faces clearly, it is light enough to hold in bed or in a chair, and one device handles video calls, photos of the grandchildren, a few games, the radio and a book. A laptop, by contrast, needs a desk and a steadier hand, and often goes unused. If your parent has always loved their iPad or Samsung tablet, that familiar one is better than something new.

A phone still matters too, for calls and for staff to reach you. If your parent finds a smartphone fiddly, this can be a good moment to move to something simpler. Our guide to simple phones for seniors covers the easy-to-use options. Whatever you choose, make sure it works on 4G. Australia switched off the old 3G networks, so an older handset that relied on 3G will not make calls at all.

Set the device up so it is easy to live with

A few minutes of setup makes the difference between a device your parent uses every day and one that sits in a drawer. The aim is fewer steps, bigger text, and the people they love one tap away.

• Turn the text size up and the brightness to a comfortable level. Our guide to making an iPad easier to use shows where these settings live.
• Put the video calling app right on the front screen, large, with the family members already saved. See how to video call on an iPad for the simple way to do this.
• Add a charger that is easy to plug in, and consider a stand so the tablet props up for hands-free calls.
• Write the Wi-Fi password and the device passcode on a card and tuck it somewhere safe in the room, so a staff member or visitor can help reconnect if needed.
• Set up emergency contacts on the phone so the family can be reached quickly.

Most care facilities have call bells and their own systems for help, so a personal medical alarm is usually not needed once your parent is in full-time care. If they are moving into a retirement village unit and living independently rather than into a hospital-level wing, that is a different picture, and our guide to medical alarms in Australia is worth a read. Ask the facility what their setup covers.

Sort the accounts and passwords while you can

This is the part families wish they had done sooner. While your parent can still talk you through it, gather the things that lock up otherwise: the passcode for the phone and tablet, the email password, the online banking logins, and the Apple or Google account that ties the device together. Without the Apple Account or Google password, a tablet can become very hard to reset or fix later.

You do not need to take over anything. You just need a record kept somewhere safe, so that if a device plays up or a bill needs paying, someone can step in. Our companion guide on strong passwords and the wider piece on managing a parent’s accounts cover the calm way to do this. A move into care is also a good moment to talk about who handles what, gently, before it becomes urgent.

Keep their myGov and Medicare access working

A move into care is one of those times when government services still matter, so it is worth keeping that side tidy too. Your parent’s myGov account links to Medicare, Centrelink and the ATO, and the myGov app holds a digital Medicare card that is handy at GP and pharmacy visits, so keep the login with the records you gather and leave the app on their tablet or phone. Update their address with Services Australia and My Aged Care so letters and any aged-care correspondence follow them to the new place. If the move is into government-funded residential aged care, My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 is the central contact point for fees and care questions. Sorting this once, calmly, saves a scramble later when a card or a letter is suddenly needed.

Tidy up the home that is being left behind

Once the move is settled, there is usually a home internet plan and a landline still running and being paid for. Have a look at the old broadband contract. Many can be cancelled or paused, though some have a notice period or an early exit fee, so check the terms before you ring. If your parent is keeping the family home for now, you might keep a basic connection. If the house is being sold or let, close the account.

Do not rush to cancel the mobile number, though. Keeping your parent’s phone number is worth it, even on a cheap plan. It is the number friends, doctors and the bank already have, and changing it causes more trouble than it saves.