Mom's memory care has Roku TV, how can we make TV easier to use?

I know this isn't the answer to your question, but, I, at almost 70, who uses my laptop everyday for about 6 hours where I write a blog, post on social media, etc - I am unable to figure out the tv and the various remotes. Thank goodness my husband is a techie and set it up so that all I have to do is turn the tv on with the Xfinity remote, press the 'talk' button and say - 'Netflix' or 'Prime' or if regular tv, the channel. But even then, once you get to the 3rd party site, you still have to use the remote to scroll through stuff...

It really really really makes me wish for the days of the past where you had 11 channels total and one remote. Made life so much easier.

Even I can't figure Out Roku ..... I am terrible with remotes .

Get another TV if possible.
I have the Roku and it requires two remotes.
The only positive about it is that its easy to push the DVD button.

You need a technie kid to help you figure this out - although I believe this is the way the" Roku's" are made to work.

Yes, it is really STUPID to have this set up in a memory care unit but then that is the ... common sense we are often subjected to - in society in general (none).
No thought whatsoever for common sense solutions / making things work.

I see this type of 'decision making' all the time in many areas of life ...
I presume the set up likely has everything to do with costs and how the entire facility is set up = to save money as that is usually how decisions are made.

How about getting a computer and watching You Tube tv?
I know there are other ways around the TV set. Many people watch it on their computers. Not that that would be any easier. Isn't an 'air antenna' the same as ... wireless?

I don't know what I am talking about.
Hope someone else can clear this up.

Gena / Touch Matters

What I would ask for in my mom's case is a simple 3 button remote. An on-off and up and down channel buttons. The trick would be programming it to cycle through only her favorite channels, which she could do until she found something she likes. Of course if you were selling such a device commercially, it would have to be adaptable for cable, satellite, streaming, etc which is where it would get complicated. Maybe, as suggested, we have to wait for AI to make voice controls work for dementia patients, but that will take awhile.

We old people (76) mostly hate tech. but if the youngsters have patience we can learn the basics, sometimes. If not, we have another thing to complain about, too the Reaper shows up.

I chuckled, nodded my head, and rolled my eyes at all these replies basically saying the same thing (except for the ideas of the more tech savvy.) But, jeez, it's just TV! Why do things have to be so Over-engineered these days? To me it's a misdirected use of creativity: there are more important things to solve, it seems to me. Who in assisted living needs or wants more complication to their lives? Who not in assisted living really needs more complication? Yes, it's kind of amusing at all the 'bells and whistles' a device can do, but, really, why? Are we that unable to amuse ourselves? uh-oh, rhetorical question just answered itself, lol.

I live in a Senior Residence, and several people around me (both women and men) all swear that the Roku system is "easy" to use. These are not memory care residents, but seniors I would say in their 60s, although one man whom I asked about Roku did mumble something about "having to use two remotes" but didn't make it sound too difficult. I actually have no TV set up (haven't had a TV for about 10 years) but two "old" TVs that I'm "thinking" about setting up. One of them is a pretty large screen Samsung and I was going to give it away, but then I learned a thing or two from a nice Best Buy worker, who asked does it say "XYZ" on the back of the TV (can't recall what the actual letters/nos.) were. It was about a 12-year old model but it did have this "code"/letters on the back, and he said as long as it had these numbers/letters you can make it into a Smart TV without much of a problem. I'm wading into that pool hopefully soon (since "most of ROKU is free," I was told) and if I have any amazing insights I'll post again. Oh and 1 other thing: you can google articles on the differences between the Firestick and Roku.

Just saying from experience with my mother -- the remote(s) aren't the problem it's the person who's in memory care.

We have the voice remote for our Roku, and it works most of the time, but if we said, "I want to watch -- oh, um -- that PBS show with the animals -- um -- "Big and Small Critters"... it's not going to work.

Jamieh: An individual in a memory care facility cannot be expected to operate a two-remote system television. That is preposterous! Who runs this facility anyway?!

I'm sorry I can't suggest a solution. Somebody ought to design a system to make it easier for the elderly. We have antenna channels and an Amazon firestick. I suppose if mom were comfortable with Alexa, she could ask for what she wants to watch, Alexa could turn on the TV and find the proper channel, but mom can't learn new tech at her present stage and wouldn't know what to ask for. She really only watches 3 PBS channels, but I have to set them for her and switch between them to the programs she likes, I have to keep track of what's on when. She'd be lost on her own.

You could maybe, make a chart, with colors and symbols, then put a decal on the remote button. Like right down, red square on the chart, and put a red square on play.

I have my wits about me (I think) and Roku can be hard for me at times.

Like everyone who’s replied. I don’t have a solution. Since it’s memory care, I suggest you edit together a dvd or video tape of old favorites, positive news stories, PBS, Hallmark, etc. to play on automatic repeat.

Lordy, would I ever be the wrong one to ask.
The current smart TVs with their one or even two remotes, is enough to drive someone my age absolutely over the top. I'm 81. I finally have got good enough to be friends with the "new" TV, which likely means its about at the end of its life, given how long the disposable electronics of the current era last.
The one remote does a lot of "stuff" but wow, what a learning curve. And the buttons all so close together on one little remote, that a hand recently lotioned (or, let's be honest, having eaten potato chips) will just slide off some central button onto the next, and poof.....you're in a whole other world.

I don't know how our elders operate these things, but I do know that typically, at my brother's ALF, people gave up their TVs, used the central common room TV, and it was so hard for them to operate that one that the staff would take the remote into the office, and do the TV channel changes FOR them half the time.

I sure hope you have good luck here, and post the secrets.

I have a couple Roku installed as a app installed on a Smart TV and several set-top Roku devices. They are intended to work interactively with the TV (most TV's) Meaning she should be able to use the Roku remote to press home (pic of house), from there press the button with a microphone and say what you want, release the button and will switch.
So many variables like streaming TV versus cable/satellite TV but that's how all mine work. If the facility has a old Roku it might not have the microphone in remote, tell them to switch it out for one that does. (20 bucks online).

Can you be more explicit? What are the two remotes? One is the Roku and one is the Cable? Is there a Cable Box? Also, does the Roku Remote have voice activation? What is the TV brand and model?

I think the easiest solution, if you can eliminate the need for a non-Roku remote is to have a Roku remote with voice activation: https://www.roku.com/products/accessories/roku-voice-remote

p.s. I have a Channel Master indoor antenna attached to one of my Roku TVs. It works great. How it will work for her will depend on where she is located. https://www.channelmaster.com/collections/indoor-tv-antennas

The last time I visited my mom she was watching TV. She wanted to change the channel, so I got up to grab the remote. There were 5 remotes sitting on the table. I had no idea which one to grab, so I took a best shot guess. Ended up having to ask one the attendants to change the channel for us. I was just as clueless as my mom.

When my Dad’s AL did this I literally asked them if they were insane!?!? Seniors are used to on/off and channel numbers. I think the change is all about the $$$. His MC now has Direct TV but unfortunately he’s not too interested in TV any longer. 😢

The Roku remote should turn the TV on ECT. Once you pair a remote to the Roku device when you hit the power button it should turn the TV on at the same time it turn the Roku on. You can get a Roku voice remote at Walmart for $20. Then all she has to do is hold down the speaker but say something like Roku Netflix and it will open the Netflix app. Same if she wants to watch a certain show. Say she misplaces the remote all she or anybody else has to do is say Roku find remote and the remote will start beeping so you can follow the noise. Just needa to be plugged up every now and then to charge but it last a long time on one charge.

Roku Voice Remote (Official) for Roku Players, Roku Audio, and Roku TV™ https://www.walmart.com/ip/613211282

I agree the MC has really created a stupid situation using Roku TV. Most all cable TV requires 2 remotes. The TV remote (to turn the TV on and off) and control the volume. Then the cable channels are on the other remote. Sometimes modern technology is a royal pain. Most modern cable TV setups require 2 remotes.

I have DISH TV. I use those plastic wire ties ("P" ties), to connect both remotes together (back to back) securely. Pull them tight and trim the excess plastic tips off and lightly sand the sharp corners off. Mom won't be able to take them apart without wire cutters. The new "double remote" will be big enough to handle and not easy to loose!

This wins the internet for Stupidest Practice In A Memory Care Assisted Living Facility EVER! Let's shrink their world because they're incapable of managing life and complications, yet let's give them ROKU TV requiring 2 remotes to operate!!! Sheer stupidity.

I'd be complaining to the Executive Director about this daily. It's THE most senseless thing I've ever heard! You've got poor VegasGuy going into the facilty 6-8 times a DAY to switch channels for his loved one, for crying out loud! UNACCEPTABLE.

That's strange--ours just has one. Is it because it's also using a sound bar or goes through a cable box? I'd wire it directly into the cable or set up wifi for it, and ditch anything extraneous that requires that second remote so you can use just the single 'on/off' Roku remote, or buy a very simple universal remote for seniors and set that up. (Though this inability to use the remote may just be progression of her disease.)

There is an item called a universal remote. Buy one and read all the instructions carefully. I got one for my sister, she thought it would magically work out of the box with no setup, it didn’t so she threw it away. Didn’t read the instructions. You will have to set it up for your mom when you visit.
If you find tech confusing find a younger tech savvy relative to help (my joke on tech how-to is “first find a 13 year old”)

Whatever allows for a single remote and doesn't require having to search, learn or remember anything to find a channel. My MIL is in LTC with just mild dementia/memory impairment and we ask the staff to pick a specific program and get her to it. She can barely manage the on/off on the 1 remote. Before she was placed in AL she was calling us literally every other day because she'd inadvertently de-program the remote because she'd just start pushing all sorts of buttons when the first one she pressed didn't turn on the tv. I think you will spend a lot of time trying to solve the tv problem and it won't be what you hoped for. Been there, done that. Just have tempered expectations that this will be a very temporary fix.

If you had the Roku app set up on your phone, and if you could control her Roku TV from your phone, you might be able to change the channel for her that way. I don't know if this would work, but you could look into it. Lots more work for you, though.

If she were capable of controlling her Roku TV from her smartphone, that would be even better. But if she can't work the remotes, she probably isn't capable of using the smartphone for this.

I don't have a Roku so everything I write I learned on the internet :-). It is possible to use a Roku without a remote:
https://www.hellotech.com/guide/for/how-to-use-roku-without-a-remote#:~:text=To%20use%20your%20Roku%20player,and%20tap%20the%20remote%20icon.

There It's also a Roku community where one can ask questions

https://community.roku.com/t5/Remotes/Can-I-pair-two-remotes-to-the-same-Streaming-Stick-I-have-an-extra-identical-one-to-use/td-p/604939

As soon as I saw Roku I thought it would be confusing. Its confusing having cable if I want to change to an App on DHs TV. DHs TV does not have the box. We need 2 remotes then.

Memory care is "supposed" to have a lower staff to resident ratio, although I know in practice that does not necessarily mean they will do more stuff. Can you ask the ML staff to make this TV switch instead of having to go in yourself ? Also can the staff help with the 2 remote aspect?

Oh-My-Gosh, I thought I was the only one with this issue. I go in at least 6-8 a day to switch the Air tv channel back to the Roku station. She only watches 2 programs. Period. "Midnight Mysteries" on PlutoTV and then I have to switch to "Travellng Robert" on YouTube.
Anyway, I am too exhausted to find an easier way, I do not think their is.

I don’t know the answer to this but I bet that you aren’t the only person who would like an answer to your question.

Nothing is simple anymore. Older people aren’t always able to catch onto newer technology.