Dear Savvy Senior: Can you recommend some simplified universal television remotes for seniors? My 88-year-old dad, who lives in a retirement community, has some dementia and gets confused with all the buttons on his remote. As a result, he keeps accidentally reprogramming his TV set. — Searching Son

Dear Searching: Most modern television remotes — that come with dozens of unnecessary buttons — can be confusing for anyone to operate and especially challenging for older adults. Fortunately, there are several universal TV remotes available that are specifically designed for older adults tackling issues with vision, memory or confusion, as well as those that are technologically challenged. These remotes have bigger buttons and pared-down options that make them much easier to see and use. Here are three top choices to consider.

Senior-friendly remotes

The two most popular simplified TV remotes on the market today are the Flipper and the EasyMote. Both are infrared-only remotes intended for those who use traditional cable/satellite boxes or their TV’s internal tuner. They are not designed for use with streaming devices and will not work with devices that are controlled via Bluetooth or radio frequency.

If you aren’t sure how your dad’s television is controlled, point his remote at the ground in the opposite direction of the device, and then press a button. If the remote still executes the command, then it’s using Bluetooth or radio frequency signals.

The Flipper, which is a top-rated remote, works with all major televisions, including those with cable, satellite and digital TV receiver boxes. Available for $40 at FlipperRemote.com, this lightweight remote has a tapered design that makes it easy to hold, and for simplicity, it has only six large color- coded tactile buttons that control the power, mute, volume and channel functions.

Flipper also offers an optional “favorite channel” feature that will let you program up to 30 of your dad’s favorite channels and bypass the channels he never watches. And it has a built-in keypad hidden behind a slide-down panel. This will give your dad the ability to directly punch in a desired channel while keeping the remote simple and uncluttered. The Flipper remote can also be locked to prevent accidental reprogramming.

Another popular senior-friendly remote that’s worth a look is the EasyMote (EasyMote.us), which is available on amazon.com for $18. This lightweight remote, which controls most TV and cable boxes, also comes with six large, easy-to-see buttons (on/off, mute, channel up and down, and volume up and down) that light up when pressed, which is a nice feature if your dad watches TV in the dark. It also comes with a handy, removable wrist strap to prevent misplacing the remote.

Multidevice remote

If the Flipper or EasyMote is too basic for your dad’s entertainment system, another simplified remote that offers the ability to control multiple devices is the GE Big Button 2-Device Universal Remote, also available at amazon.com, for $9.

This infrared remote has an ergonomic design with large buttons that will let him control up to two audio/video components such as a TV, cable/satellite receiver, Blu-ray/DVD player, Roku box, Apple TV and other streaming devices and sound bars.

In addition to power, volume, channel and mute buttons, plus a number pad, this remote also offers previous channel button, sleep timer and input buttons for convenience.

Jim Miller is a contributor to NBC-TV’s “Today” program and author of “The Savvy Senior.” Send your questions to Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070; or visit savvysenior.org.