How do I set up a daily check-in for a parent who isn't good with technology?

How to set up a check-in for an elderly parent, in five steps

1. 1Sign up on your phone or at app.hammock365.com: name, email, password, mobile number. No card.
2. 2Tap the gear and set the daily check-in time. It is the deadline, not a reminder, so pick a time she is always up by.
3. 3From the app, text her the link. It opens in her phone's browser. No app store, no download. On an iPad or tablet, it opens in the browser the same way.
4. 4She types an email and picks a password, then taps Continue. Any email she can get into works, and it is only for signing in and resetting a password. If she has none, make her a free Gmail, or tap Continue with Google or Continue with Apple to use the account already on her phone. If you are holding her phone, do this part for her.
5. 5Her button is waiting: I'm Okay Today. Have her tap it once while you watch your phone say she is okay.

What she sees

A big I'm Okay button, a red I Need Help button, Ask a question, and a large-type menu that follows her phone's text size setting. Six one-tap call contacts. There is no code to read to her over the phone.

While you are sitting with her

• Fill in the emergency card: her legal name, allergies, doctor, and who to call. Her medications come over from the list by themselves.
• Add her medications with Remind me on my phone turned on. Her phone tells her when it is time, with an I took it button.
• If she uses the iPhone app, allow notifications: Settings, Notifications, Hammock365, Allow.

If it gets stuck

• Your screen still says Waiting for Mom: she has not opened the link. Tap the people icon, tap Copy link, and text it again.
• Five how-to videos, each under 30 seconds, are at hammock365.com/how-to.
• Call or text (336) 553-8933, or email support@hammock365.com. Ryan reads every message himself.

If she says she's fine and doesn't need it

Start small, and let her help pick the check-in time. See what to do when a parent doesn't want to be checked on.

The honest limit

On the free plan, Maggie has 10 messages for the whole family, ever, so Ask a question will run out if Mom uses it a lot. And Hammock365 is not an emergency service. In an emergency, call 911.