• WHAT: A few easy steps to get seniors comfortable with the idea of using cell phones
• WHY: Change is hard, especially when you're accustomed to dial tone
• COST: Free - just some time and patience on your end

It didn't take me long to talk my Mom into getting a cell phone about 15 years ago.  After all, she was exposed to the idea at a pretty early stage in cellular's development because of my involvement in the industry.  But that's not the case with lots of other seniors (personal note - my Mom hates being called a "senior" but loves getting into movies with a cheap ticket!) because the exposure that they get is from excited, geeky grandchildren or nervous children who worry about their safety and well-being. 

The fact is, however, that we do worry about our parents as they age and having them carry a cell phone is a cheap, easy form of peace of mind for you and, ultimately, for them too.  We'd all like to see them carrying a phone but sometimes go overboard in trying to convince them.  

There are some pretty simple ways to get seniors to consent to use a cell phone, and to actually make good use of it after they've got it in hand.  I ought to know, having convinced my aunts and uncles to start using them at age 80+ and now watching them happily use them on a regular basis.  Here's how to do it:

1. Skip the neat features.  Telling them about text messaging, web browsing, games, three-way calling, speakerphones, downloadable ring tones and whatnot isn't going to help your cause.   A lovely glaze will form over their eyes as they begin thinking about how smart you are and how old they are and why it's going to be too difficult or complicated for them to use. 
   
2. Show them how yours works.  Amazing as it may be to you, there are many people in the world who haven't used a cell phone except when someone hands it to them after already being connected and says "so-and-so wants to talk to you."  They don't know how to disconnect a call (there's no cradle to hang up the "receiver"), there's no dial tone and the screen is a totally new concept to them.  Be patient... allow yourself about five minutes of showing them how to make and end a call before moving on to anything else. 
   
3. Offer to do the hard work for them.  To many people, especially seniors, going into a cellular phone store or electronics store is downright intimidating.  There are too many choices, too much jargon and very little patience.  If you'll offer to get the phone, sign them up, take care of activating the service and then just give them a functioning phone you'll have a much higher rate of success and a very grateful user on the other end. 
   
4. Do the programming for them.  Before giving phones to my family I entered a lot of numbers of other family members that they'd likely want to call - and that would be calling them.  I also uploaded photos of all the people that I entered into the address book so that the photo caller ID feature - the one thing that absolutely fascinates seniors more than any other on the phone - is active and ready to go when they start using the phone.  Wait until you see their eyes light up when you make a test call in front of them showing how your photo pops up on the screen when you're calling their phone.  (Personal note here: I'm a Mac user and transferring photos to the phone is as simple as setting up a Bluetooth connection and browsing the phone as if it were a hard drive.  Addresses sync from the Address Book to new phones via iSync;  I keep a Group called "Family Phones" that has all the numbers that I'd want to put on everyone's phones... if there are too many when I set on up I pare down the list after I've synced them all to the phone.)
5. Offer to put them on your family plan, but agree to take a payment from them.  I've found that at a "certain age" people are uncomfortable taking gifts from their kids and letting others in the family pay their way.  So what I've done is to offer to put family members on my "Family Plan" so that they get the benefit of a deep discount and take the payment from them (usually $10/month) for the service.  You can bet that between free nights and weekends, free mobile-to-mobile calling and their less-chatty habits, your pool of minutes will barely be affected. 
   

I've done this about a half-dozen times already and figure the entire process, including buying the phone and adding a line to your account (which I do online to save having to slog down to the local store and get ignored), doing the programming for them (probably the most time-consuming part, but easier if you're a Mac user) and training them on how to use the phone takes a total of about 1.5 hours.  Now, isn't that a small investment to make in keeping your family happy and your own worry level down?  It is to me.