Making a dozen phone calls can be an overwhelming chore and take you the better part of a day to accomplish. Yet conveying information about a family member and perhaps a crisis or new development can be very important. Helping your parents keep in touch with family members and friends can also help ease your burden as caregiver. It can keep them occupied and not dependent on you as their sole source of daily contact.

Teaching your parents how to use technology can be a challenge. There are simpler systems for e-mail that don't require computers, and this may be a good alternative for your parents. Some hook up to the television set and this could be a great option, especially for those who need larger print or for viewing photos.

Teach your children to e-mail their grandparents, and how to scan or photograph school projects and art projects to attach to the e-mails to share with them. Encourage your siblings and nieces and nephews to keep in touch with grandparents this way as well.

For emergencies, your parents should have a cell phone as a backup. This could be a pay-as-you-use phone so you aren't paying monthly service fees for a phone that isn't used regularly. You could also add a line to your cell phone service for a nominal monthly fee and make this the backup line for your parents. Make sure they keep the phone charged and know how to use it.

Text messaging on cell phones is another new techno challenge, but once you understand it, it can be a timesaver as well. For instance, if Dad is being taken to the hospital and you need to notify your spouse, three children, and four siblings, you could type in one message and select several recipients for it to be sent to at one time. This lets them all know about the incident at once and that you will call your spouse once you know more and he'll be the designated contact person. You can also use your cell phone to send the message as an e-mail to those who may not have or not know how to use text messaging.