Last week I conducted a seminar in Tucson, AZ and had a great conversation with a course participant. This lady spoke with me about some of her greatest concerns caring for her elderly parents. She told me that the mother was in her late 80s and father in his 90s. They live at home and their children assist with their care. The adult children want their parents to have as much independence as possible, consistent with the aging in place movement we are in the midst of.
The lady expressed concern with use of the phone. What comes to mind initially? Large buttons due to eyesight problems, poor hearing interfering with comprehension of the conversation, both possibilities, but neither fit the bill. The main worry was the automated system that we all encounter. Even those of us whose brains are in our prime experience frustration, and at times just want to push 0. We hope that a person, a real live voice will help us with the problem. Think about the tribulations that may complicate the automated system phone task even further. Poor working memory… by the time “push option 7 for billing questions” comes along, the elderly person with memory loss will forget what assistance “option 2” might provide. Then they try to get the operator, instinctively touching the 0 button on the phone, and what do they hear “this is an invalid option, goodbye”, and back to square one.
In our world of evolving technology where paper bills are a thing of the past, customer support provided by a human being becoming obsolete, and the first thing we hear when calling customer service is redirection to a website, we must consider the generation who is not familiar with this system. How about a default option, 0 for operator, required for all customer service centers? Although the companies would have to employ more people increasing their costs, certainly it would be less expensive than providing services for the elderly at home to assist in maintaining personal finances. Perhaps someone could start a customer service company, a call center, and its primary function would be to service the aging population. They could then contract to utility companies and customers over a certain age would receive an alternate number to call, the ones who most need help would now have a better option. I don’t know of a quick fix. I think we have to look at changing the system on this one, but what a difference a simplified version of the complex customer service phone methods could make in the lives of our elderly and their caregivers.
The lady expressed concern with use of the phone. What comes to mind initially? Large buttons due to eyesight problems, poor hearing interfering with comprehension of the conversation, both possibilities, but neither fit the bill. The main worry was the automated system that we all encounter. Even those of us whose brains are in our prime experience frustration, and at times just want to push 0. We hope that a person, a real live voice will help us with the problem. Think about the tribulations that may complicate the automated system phone task even further. Poor working memory… by the time “push option 7 for billing questions” comes along, the elderly person with memory loss will forget what assistance “option 2” might provide. Then they try to get the operator, instinctively touching the 0 button on the phone, and what do they hear “this is an invalid option, goodbye”, and back to square one.
In our world of evolving technology where paper bills are a thing of the past, customer support provided by a human being becoming obsolete, and the first thing we hear when calling customer service is redirection to a website, we must consider the generation who is not familiar with this system. How about a default option, 0 for operator, required for all customer service centers? Although the companies would have to employ more people increasing their costs, certainly it would be less expensive than providing services for the elderly at home to assist in maintaining personal finances. Perhaps someone could start a customer service company, a call center, and its primary function would be to service the aging population. They could then contract to utility companies and customers over a certain age would receive an alternate number to call, the ones who most need help would now have a better option. I don’t know of a quick fix. I think we have to look at changing the system on this one, but what a difference a simplified version of the complex customer service phone methods could make in the lives of our elderly and their caregivers.
I never thought of this, although I know I often have to write the menu options down that I "think" I might need to use, not knowing what other options are coming later, and quite frequently I find the menu inadequate as to specifically highlighting my needs which is really frustrating.
ReplyDeleteI think a special calling center for the elderly is a great idea! Maybe someone will see your idea and run with it.
I appreciate your blog. It helps breed more empathy and compassion into my thoughts of the elderly by highlighting issues that I may be facing as I age.
Thanks Alecia. I appreciate you reading and commenting too.
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