Best audio book options for dementia patient?

Why can't your mother get past the first page of a book? What you consider 'highly functioning' may not BE highly functioning, in reality. My mother was chronically bored when she had moderate and advanced dementia precisely b/c she was unable to DO much of anything anymore, like follow a story line on TV or read a novel. And then she reached the point of not being able to read her favorite People magazine anymore. The thought of her trying to operate a Kindle or ANYTHING electronic like that or computer-ish would be outrageous to me, considering she would try to operate the TV set with her telephone. One of the first things to go is an elder's ability to operate electronics or any type of gadget, including TV sets, phones, computers, etc.

If you think she's capable of operating a Kindle, then no, wifi is not required to read a book on that device.

If it were me, I'd get the activity director involved in getting mom out of her room and into the activities going on in the SNF. Get her acquainted with the other residents who are at the same level of dementia she's at, so they'll be able to interact and talk together, eat meals, etc. That will help her loneliness better than any book ever could. That's what helped my mother tremendously; the socialization she had in her Memory Care ALF with the other residents. Even the ones she didn't like and complained about.........that gave her something to DO and others to focus her limited attention span on. And the arts & crafts they did together in the activity room really kept her amused.

Best of luck.

My Mom is in a similar state. High functioning in that she can dress, bath, get around, hold a trivial conversation, etc. But her short term memory is very bad and she can't remember what happened a few minutes ago so following any kind of book or story is very difficult or impossible. She just can't remember what happened in the last scene, much less the last chapter or 2-3 chapters ago. So the story falls apart and doesn't make sense.

What does work are TV game shows! I really don't like them, but discovered that Mom can follow along with "the price is right" or most other trivial game shows. Not jeopardy or anything like that, but the simple ones where they are doing something "in the moment" and not having to remember anything that happened a bit ago. And the lively, colorful nature of these shows is also a good thing. Nothing scary or concerning, it's all light and cheery.

Honestly, the problem isn't the book vs. audio issue -- it's the dementia issue. She can't follow the narrative any longer.

Perhaps go a different direction and put a Zoo series on the TV.........nothing to read, just pure relaxation and charming animals. These helped me cope with the Covid pandemic and the hostile stories on the news..........I sought out something interesting and beautiful and found it at the Zoos around the world.

I use audible.com plus a hardcover of the book from the library where my husband can follow along. He loves it.

i echo others here who say your mom is not likely to be able to follow along with an audiobook. my mom can't really even follow along with tv any more, she will react to some scenes but is not aware of the overall plot of the show. so we keep it light with simple comedies like king of queens that are lighthearted and she chuckles now and then. music is the only thing that does get to her--she still knows the words to all her favorite songs from the 50s and 60s and it makes her happy to listen.

How will they remember how to open app or use the tablet? The staff maybe needs to be asked to help with this. Also it's something that can easily be stolen from her. Maybe best to give her books with large pictures and just a little text, maybe not a story to follow. My 100-year old Aunt loves cat and bird books with 1 large pic per page that gives info about the animal. She reads them over and over. Maybe just a tv in her room set on the Animal Planet channel for the aids to turn on for her. An audiobook would require wifi to download the book initially but after that it's on the device and shouldn't be a problem to use by someone who can remember how. My 93-yr old mother just transitioned to my iPad and plays card games on it a lot. She doesn't have cognitive or memory impairment and was using a different Android tablet for many years prior to switching. My 88-yr old MIL in LTC has significant memory loss and has started "reading" large print romance novels. We're not sure she gets past the first page. Picture books are the best. Or a cd player for music, but again, someone else will need to turn it on for her.

I have trouble with audio books, my mind starts to wander. For a person suffering from Dementia it takes them awhile to be able to process what is being said. Thats why you use very few words when talking to them. I really don't see her being able to follow along.

Can your mother sew or knit or do simple craft-type tasks? Is there a church or a Cancer support or community group that needs people to help make "cancer hats" or aprons or clothing items for charity projects? Sometimes these items are pre-cut and in little kits and volunteers are needed to put them together.
It would give your mother a purposeful task and would be a help to the project.

my mom w dementia is/was also avid reader (our dinner was always burnt as she was absorbed in some plot - we thought that dinner was supposed to be like that). I found a couple books & special edition magazines w single picture & half page text - so 4 little gems per 2 pages. She loves these! I also got her an occasional travel book - one w lots of pictures & short descriptions of places - she loved to travel. Has to be about places she went to as child or young adult.
for her its the length of the story. Max 1 paragraph.