Smartphones Benefit Senior's Cognitive Health

Smartphones. Ugh! Life was so much easier back in the day. Most of us seniors feel that way and yet, there are true and outstanding benefits that come with using your smartphone/tablet (or computer) daily. For me, the biggest and greatest of these benefits is keeping in touch with my loved ones. With one son living 90 miles away and the other in Colorado, I could be feeling like I never see them. But it's not true. We video chat. We have iPhones, so we use Facetime. Android have Google Meet. With video chat technology, the distance doesn't feel so big. What a blessing! And then there's YouTube, where you could literally spend the rest of your life learning almost anything, travel the world and be otherwise entertained by the massive content on this platform (i.e. website). Not to mention messaging apps that also provide free world-wide audio and video calls, email, the camera and all its editing capabilities!

OK, great. We've established that smartphones are remarkable devices. They do, however, have a learning curve. This technology isn't intuitive for us. It's complex and confusing to the uninitiated. But here's the thing. The fact that it requires learning is where the magic is for us. You see learning is like calisthenics for the human brain. The more you learn, the more often you learn, the greater the benefit. When you are engaged daily with your phone, you are stretching your brain to do more.

In April 2025, researchers from Baylor University released the findings of a meta study of 400,000 seniors. They went into the study inclined to believe that diving into technology would create digital dementia - a slow decline of cognitive skills so get off the phone! That thing is going to fry your brain! What they found out, though, was a happy surprise. It seems that seniors who engage with technology daily are 58% less likely to get dementia than those who do not. Let that sink in. 58%.

The reason for this is that your brain is constantly challenged by the ever changing landscape of your device. Learning to use one app, and then another, is cognitively challenging in a way that supports better brain function. This is good. Is it frustrating? Yes. And it's good. Learn one app at a time. That's where my book, Take This Phone And Shove It! A Frustrated Senior's Guide to Smartphones comes in. I give you step-by-step instructions on basic apps like the phone, messaging, email, GPS, settings and the clock. It's as if I am sitting with you gently guiding you along. Start with Chapter 6 - Gestures: The Key to Mastering Smartphones and master one gesture at a time. Before you know it, you'll be swiping and tapping like a five year old!

And there are more cognitive benefits. Even when mild decline is present, the technology offers alarms, timers and a GPS to help you with medications (alarms), directions (GPS) and reminders (timers) to turn off the stove. Technology is a tool you can use to feel less lonely, be entertained and, most importantly, to keep your brain stronger and more resilient. After all, you're ...old enough to have a past and young enough to have a future...and learning smartphones will help you live into that future with a healthier brain. So try it! You might just like it.

Here's to you, your health and your future,