‘Take This Phone And Shove It!’ Author wants to help you (or your grandparents) beat phone phobia

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It’s been driving Sheila Capell crazy: Her phone keeps saying her iCloud is full and she needs to click on a link and pay up. Now.
“What is the iCloud?” Capell, 83, asked during a recent get-together at her retirement community in West Boca. “They keep sending me messages that they’re going to eliminate my videos. I hate that phone.”
Anne Goldberg, 73, a teacher and author, wants older adults like Capell to stop the hate. It’s time for the aging to embrace technology, especially smartphones, Goldberg says, for brain health, socialization skills and a sense of self-worth.
Goldberg addressed a crowd of cellphone-weary seniors on Oct. 23 at Sinai Residences, on the campus of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County. She is the author of the newly published “Take This Phone And Shove It! A Frustrated Senior’s Guide to Smartphones” (Savvy Senior Tech LLC; $39.95). As the book cover states, it’s “Written by a Senior for Seniors.”
The Boca Raton resident has been teaching older adults to use smartphones for 12 years. Looking for a new career after working as an executive recruiter, she started the business Savvy Senior Tech to offer lessons, classes and lectures after several acquaintances called her for help using the latest technology.
There’s no question that smartphone use has skyrocketed among seniors: Only 10% had the devices in 2011, but 61% were using them by 2021, according to the Pew Research Center.
A compilation of studies published in 2022 found smartphones and computers can improve executive function and processing speed among seniors with no cognitive impairments. There’s some evidence that these machines can also help with memory in seniors with brain injuries and dementia.
But the studies also found many seniors’ lack of digital literacy, and the few accommodations smartphones make to their age, can impede them as they try to text with their families, send photos and keep up with emails.
Goldberg, a mother of two and grandmother of three, owns two phones: an iPhone 16 Pro and a Samsung S25.
She said she needs two types of phones so she can better work with her students and she details how to use both brands in her book. She usually wears one at a time on a leather strap around her neck, “to lose it less often.”
After years of observing how seniors adapt to technology, she said a key to getting them focused is gentle language. She prods them with talk such as “I know you hate this, but I want you to consider this,” and “I want you to be curious.”
TIPS FOR THE PHONE-PHOBIC
Here are some tips Goldberg has culled from her experiences with phone-phobic seniors.
Get a good night’s sleep before trying to learn. Goldberg also recommends practicing deep breaths, as she said both help with memory and skill reinforcement.
Don’t be afraid of breaking the phone. She tells them it won’t blow out when they are typing a text or tapping on an app. But she also urges them not to throw it against a wall, leave it in a hot car or let it get wet.
Don’t panic if the screen changes unexpectedly. When this situation arises, Goldberg said many seniors get discouraged because they believe they did something wrong. She tells them to simply use the back arrow to return to the previous page.
Use a password manager. Passwords “are the bane of nearly every computer-using senior I’ve worked with,” Goldberg said. The computerized manager sets up an account with a single password that stores all other passwords, and will “relieve you of the need to keep paper records,” she said.
If you feel overwhelmed, walk away for a minute or two. “Then come back with a clear head and the determination to figure this out,” she said.
To avoid being scammed, learn the clues. Don’t give personal information to strangers, be on the lookout for ungrammatical English and don’t use cryptocurrency, wire transfers or gift cards to make payments. “Any legitimate business will give you several ways to send money, and those three are never choices,” she said.
Go home and do it again and again. Goldberg cites a 2024 study published in Neuroscience News that showed that repetition of tasks improves recollection and the ability to perform skills automatically. “AKA you remember things!” Goldberg said.
“The sad reality is that today’s technology leaves most seniors feeling stupid,” Goldberg said. “I want to empower every senior to learn how to look for information on the internet about health, wellness and longevity, investments, travel, movies, restaurants and so much more. I want them to make a commitment to brain health.”