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Comment by prbuckley | Hacker News Reader

Skype for the sick, create a service that does scheduled calls (ideally video calls) to the elderly and infirm for a fee.

I had this idea because my father suffers from Parkinsons disease and gets quite lonely in the house during the day. He lives in Florida and I life in California and I can't call him as much as I would like to given the time difference. I know he gets lonely and would love to just have a conversation with someone during the day. I would pay to have someone skype him for 20-30 minutes in the middle of the day just to provide some conversation.

I am guessing that there are many other people who are in my situation with sick or elderly relatives. I know I would pay for a service like this and you would be bringing happiness into peoples lives.

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That's not only for the sick and elderly, but for all lonely people. I have actually thought about such a service a while ago, because I read about those online leeches who pretend to be poor girls from a developing country (actually they are mostly middle aged men). They keep in contact for years, urging their "host" to send them money to support them, and sometimes even help the host find a job when he is fired. The hosts readily send even huge sums just so they can connect to somebody emotionally. This clearly shows there is a lack of warmth and connection for people in our society, and I can think of better ways to help them than through online leeches.

Sadly my father has been a victim of this sort of thing. He has been transfixed by the idea that a Bank in Ghana has an $8 million dollar inheritance for him. I have had so many conversations with him about this being a scam but he won't believe me.

when I am an old man, I hope my family make more of an effort than to plan for strangers to call me. This seems more for your own guilt than helping them. That said, I would have loved the chance to skype with my grandad or tap into his "what I am doing" view.

Knowing how many older folk play crosswords, I think an async game you can play is far more meaningful.

I don't take offense to your comment, in fact I think you are partially correct but your view is to simplistic. I don't think you appreciate how difficult it can be to provide care for some one with old age/dementia or a neurally degenerative disease like Parkinsons or Alzheimer's. Caregivers need more tools and this would be one that would help for some people. It wouldn't replace all the other things that you need to do as a Caregiver, technology is just another tool that can be used.

You do feel a great guilt and sadness watching someone you love slowly wither away over years. You are always thinking of ways to help but the hard reality is that there isn't a lot you can do except provide companionship.

But what do you do when you need a job to pay for all the other care this loved one needs? These things compete for your time and ability to provide companionship 24hrs/day. If I quit my job and moved across the country to take care of my father their wouldn't be any money to pay for the nurse's, medicine, and doctors. Plus all the other complexities of life that this would create for my wife and our plans to have a family. Caring for a sick person is complex.

when I am an old man, I hope my family make more of an effort than to plan for strangers to call me.

That's a really rude statement. Also, you have no reason to think the parent commenter's father enjoys games, or even to think that an aged person with health problems is interested in puzzles over human interaction.

I stand by it, I dont think it is rude.

I think it highlights the focus we as technology advocates hold that technology can solve society based problems. Turn back the dial 50 years, we held our elders in far higher respect than we do today.

That said, I want to show you an example of something a bit more meaningful with skype and the older generation.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-17870178

Clearly this is not for all people, yet I feel it is more interesting than just to ring up and hold a "30 minute" conversation because someone is paying you to do it. Not only that but I would bet it gives some of these ladies focus, purpose, still have something to give to society.

It's beyond rude. Saying something like that without knowing anything about the people involved, their relationship or what they do for each other is extremely nasty.

In the general case, I think you're not rude at all and is a valuable comment.

But if you're refering to a specific person to whom you don't know their individual circumstances, and you do it publicly, then it is extremely rude. For the record I'm from the UK in case this is a cultural thing.

Is there data for well elders were respected now and 50 years ago?

I think this is a common cultural misconception. Much like "Americans are getting dumber," is socially manufactured.

For one thing, nursing homes used to be unthinkable. You wouldn't kick elders out of the family home.

You could also expect them to die in a reasonable timeframe. Caring for someone for 6 months is a totally different thing from doing so for 6 years. It is a gift and a curse.

You should check out TAGLab at the University of Toronto. They are working on a very similar problem. One of their projects involves a touch-sensitive picture album where the patient can request interaction with a loved one. The patient taps a picture and a notification goes to the recipient, and on the other end the recipient can take a photo or write a note or record a video to send back.

http://taglab.utoronto.ca/

The project: http://taglab.utoronto.ca/projects/technologies-combat-isola...

It's really a great idea to break elderly people isolation. My elderly relatives tend to use the phone, and I'm rarely available, so I really like the asynchronous nature of it. Make it as easy to use as a telephone and I could see me paying for such a service.

Super interesting! Thanks for posting this link.

I'm sorry about your dad having Parkinsons.

As a father and son, I can relate to how you feel. Your idea is good. Maybe someone will take up the offer.

Good luck and good health to both of you.

This is a great idea. Growing population of elderly. This could be a great way for adult children to gain piece of mind that their parents are ok.

iPads make video calls very simple even for people who are not computer savvy. Just configure the software once and it's always ready.

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