Can I block phone numbers being dialed by my mother with looping dementia?

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Can I block phone numbers being dialed by my mother with looping dementia?

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My mother has dementia and is exhibiting looping dementia behavior that's definitely accompanied with sundown syndrome. Most behavior can be mitigated, but we have lost several doctors and veterinarians due to her constantly calling them several times a day, every day.

Is there a way to block her from calling certain phone numbers? All of them call me multiple times a week; several have openly asked to stop her from calling.

We can't lose anymore doctors in our area. The ones we have now are not refusing service, but they are losing patience with her. I am also losing my sanity, as well, and nothing I say or that my family says can convince her to stop.

We do not have guardianship over her, and we cannot be with her 24/7 because we have to work as well. We spend every spare moment taking care of her, and she is exhibiting no physically dangerous behavior to herself or to others and she is fully aware of where she is living. Any suggestions of outside assistance is met with temper tantrums, and then the shouting begins. So, rational explanations fall on deaf ears.

If there is a way to limit her ability to call certain numbers, it would alleviate some tension in dealing with this horrible disease.

Alzheimer's & Dementia Care Decisions Dementia Behaviors

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I went into my dad's contacts and changed numbers to people he was calling, I made sure the new # was only 1 or 2 digits off and was not a working number.

As far as the temper tantrums, do what you need to and let her have a temper tantrum. If it gets to outta hand, call 911 to get her transported to the hospital, a psuch ward if needed, to get medicated for her behaviors.

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Reply to anonymous749199

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Good ideas, wish it were that simple. It's amazing she can do research on the Internet, but wakes up at 1 am and thinks it's 1 in the afternoon.
So Everytime I change a contact in her phone she looks them up and finds their number again. Funny but frustrating.
It's crazy how in some aspects they are very resourceful, but in just as many ways regressed to toddler lever of understanding and behavior.

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I got my mom the GrandPad tablet. She can only make and receive calls (and video calls) from numbers that I programmed in. It also serves as a digital picture frame, and she can play games, listen to music, and see the weather. It lets you add as few or as many functions as you need, so your loved one doesn't get overwhelmed. Sorry to sound like a commercial, but it's worked really well for our family.

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Reply to swinther

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My father was constantly calling for pizza delivery. He now has phone that has no numbers just push buttons that correspond to specific people

Future Call Picture Phone with Speakerphone FC-1007SP

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Reply to Arkh64

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We use a Raz Memory phone for our Mom. You can limit both outgoing and incoming calls. There is no access to texting or internet at all. It keeps her from receiving spam calls and also has a ‘quiet hours’ feature. Not perfect, but very helpful in our case!

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Reply to Monifiddle

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Do you have a long term plan in place? It might be time to decide that now before a sudden hospital visit.

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Reply to JustAnon

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I found a company called TeleCalm that is fairly inexpensive - a little over $50 a month. You don't have to have an account or connection with another telephone company because it connects through Wifi internet. You can simply put in any phone numbers you wish your loved one to be able to call, and no one else can call them. You can also determine the times of day and night that your loved one can call out, or block certain phone numbers at various times.

We finally had to take my mother's phone out of her room because her Alzheimer's has progressed, and certain family members were having inappropriate conversations with her, but we were very thankful to have TeleCalm available when we needed it!

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Reply to Lee188

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Yes, I set up TeleCalm several years ago and it has been a lifesaver! My mom can only receive and make calls to the phone numbers I have entered in her call list. I block unwanted calls on the Telecalm App on my phone and it sends alerts for repeat dialing. A little time consuming to set up, but the TeleCalm staff was so helpful over the phone. I highly recommend! It's about $65 a month.

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Reply to MLMKIRT

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I second this comment and sympathize so much! When my mom moved into assisted living I got TeleCalm service for my mom and it has been wonderful. I bought her a landline type phone with a few quick-dial photo buttons on it, and you can also program the service to limit the number of times a person can call out from it within the timeframe you determine. That eliminates repeat calls. You add the phone numbers to it that are ok for her to call or receive calls from, and no others can be completed. If she tries or if someone (like a spam call or others you don't want calling her) calls, they get a message that the call can't be completed. That was very important, since she was gullible, vulnerable, had already been scammed several times and it had been such a challenge trying to protect her. I also have it set to quiet hours - not complete calls or receive calls after 9 PM. She's been using it for two years now and is (mostly) happy with it. She does get annoyed occasionally if she can't repeatedly dial someone, but thinks there's something wrong with that person's phone - not hers.

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Does she have her own cell phone? If so it might be time to take it away from her, we had to do that with my step-mother, although she was in AL, so we could call her at the nurses station if we needed to TT her.

She kept calling my brother & I, it was driving us nuts.

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Reply to MeDolly

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My mother calls ME 20 times a day. I made some changes to her phone situation, and I think it could work well for you. I assume your mother hasn’t memorized their phone numbers. My mom started finding her iPhone difficult to use, so I switched her to a picture phone landline ( I was able to get “landline” internet service to her room). She has no phone books, and no friends or family left to speak of, so I am the only contact on her phone. I was able to disable the operator and 911 buttons. I also had the option of pointing every button on her phone to my number, but you could program in family members. If you take away your mother’s phone directory and phone books, I think she would have a difficult time calling people she shouldn’t be calling. You should probably be the sole phone contact for third parties anyhow at this stage. If she is in your house using your phones, you may need to lock them so she can only use her own. Unless she has numbers memorized, this should solve your problem, or at least reduce the number of calls. My mother still calls me 20 times a day, but at least now she can’t call the police when I don’t answer.

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Reply to Monomoyick

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My mother calls ME 20 times a day. I made some changes to her phone situation. She started finding her iPhone difficult to use, so I switched her to a picture phone landline ( I was able to get “landline” internet service to her room). She has no phone books, and no friends or family left to speak of, so I am the only contact on her phone. I was able to disable the operator and 911 buttons. I also had the option of pointing every button on her phone to my number. If you take away your mother’s phone directory and phone books, I think she would have a difficult time calling people she shouldn’t be calling. You should probably be the sole phone contact for third parties anyhow at this stage. If she is in your house using your phones, you may need to lock them so she can only use her own. Unless she has numbers memorized, this should solve your problem, or at least reduce the number of calls.

Can I block phone numbers being dialed by my mother with looping dementia?

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