Which type of music player would be easiest for my mom to control?
It's so great that you want to provide music for your mom to listen to in her assisted living bedroom -- numerous studies have shown that music can have a positive impact on the quality of life of the elderly (http://www.caregivershome.com/Spiritual/spiritual.cfm?UID=64).
An iPod loaded with pre-selected music would be great -- this program from the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function sponsors a 'music player for the elderly' program in which you select music categories on their website, send in an iPod, pay a small fee, and they will pre-load the device based on musical interest. (http://www.bethabe.org/index1.html)
To do this yourself, Amazon.com carries numerous portable MP3 players from many different vendors. These range in expense -- make sure you buy one with a good battery life, easy to dock charging station, and a pair of headphones that your mom will tolerate. This may require a bit of trial and error in terms of comfort.
The other option if your Mom owned a collection of CDs that she cherishes is to consider a portable CD player like a Walkman and a stack of CDs next to her bed.
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