We've gone through multiple phones (and also TV remotes) with my mom (aged 90, some vision problems, significant hand tremors) and my MIL (aged 99, bad short-term memory).
ANYTHING new is hard to figure out for both of them. Even if YOU think it's easy, or there are fewer buttons, or "all you have to do is push the UP arrow, Mom" (remote). My MIL's radio quit working - hubby bought her the simplest one he could find, there is only ONE radio station in her town. All she had to do is push the on/off button.
She says it doesn't work. Turns out she was messing with it and turned the volume all the way down.
I realize that I'm going a little off the topic of phones, just making the point that whatever you buy may still not give you the results you want. And it's not the fault of the phone.
As my daddy declined he could not understand that giving out your information was not a good idea. So I bought a Grandpad. It was the best money I spent. No spam calls - only registered users can call the phone, It's 5"x7" so its big enough to hold and see. The person who buys the phone - example me: I set up who could call, who he could call and set up his music and photos. The buttons on the screen are big so if your person has tremors or sight issues they can still use it. Also you do not need wifi because it works on data.
I got a Grandpad for my dad, too. He’s 95 with dementia. The people I have invited into our network can also post photos on Grandpad, and Dad can look at those pictures on the pad. They can do video calls, (similar to FaceTime )as well. He will never get a spam call on this. There are also games on the GrandPad, such as solitaire, tic tac toe, and checkers. Members of the network can play the games with Dad from wherever they are, using their phone. There is an internet option, which I have disabled. At this point, Dad has a 24/7 caregiver who can assist with navigating the activities on the pad when Dad forgets. Sometimes he can still do it on his own. He is still able to answer calls with no assistance.
I super appreciate this post because I have been dealing with this for a while. Both my father and stepmother are in a memory care facility and recently my stepmom locked up her iphone so terribly that Apple couldn't fix it. I went out and got (what I thought) was the simplest of phones but dad hasn't touched his and I am finding my stepmom is struggling. I am having a REALLY hard time explaining to their siblings (who live in other states) that they can't use phones like they used to...they keep asking me to extend the rings, make them louder, teach them and I keep trying to explain, it just isn't like that. A question I have is...do you find that even when you find a phone for them, do you find that they aren't really keen on talking on the phone. The more my parents progress in their respective dementias (one is VD the other is unspecified) I feel that it is as much the fact that the phone is more difficult to use but also, they need to talk in person, they need visual cues more and more to have conversations. Not because of hearing issues, but because of the disease overall. Honestly, the phone has become an ISSUE in our family. :( It is heartbreaking.
If you live close by and others are all out of state, you might try FaceTime with the other siblings when you are with your parents. My mom is still using the phone and enjoys it most of the time, my dad, not so much. I have found that when they can actually see the person they are talking to, it is more enjoyable for everyone. I try to rotate who we FaceTime every time I go to visit and it has been fun for me to see them interact with those that they are not able to physically visit anymore.
I looked at the raz phone, but didn't like it as much as the "jethro mobile" phone at https://www.jethromobile.com/
The jethro phone was very much like an old wired phone. It's a cell phone, with a base cradle that you sit it in. The base keeps it charged. The phone doesn't have internet at all, it's just a phone and you can txt with it (although my Mom doesn't). The operation of the phone is just like an old wired phone. It has two buttons at the top, green for call/answer, and red for hang up. The phone buttons are large, so you just dial the number and hit the green button to call.
Without internet, there is no possibility of my Mom doing something by accident. And with the way it operates and the large buttons, it's easy for her to use.
I bought mine off amazon, the phone was about $100 and a years unlimited calling and txt was another $100. So $200 for a year unlimited and after the first year it'll just be $100/year.
It's working out great, had it for about 2 months now. The only issue is that sometimes she has a hard time getting it loud enough. But that would be the case with anything.
Try telecalmprotects.com. Another member has used their phones and likes it. Also try RAZ memory phone at razmobility.com. At telecalm they provide a scam and spam blocking phone that can stop multiple outgoing numbers repeated over short time period, and family or facility notifications of 911 calls. They work on your own corded phone and require no internet necessarily. Choices explained on line or through their customer service.
Yes I use telecalm for my mom and I really like it. I just bought her a simple AT&T trimline phone and used the memory dial function to set up calling a few of us she calls. Unknown numbers are rejected, if you set it up that way.
When Mom moved in, I bought her a phone that was close to the old phones I could find. It had the handheld speaker/receiver and the cradle. Was a landline. Push buttons not rotary. She had forgotten how to use her cordless. Never could learn to use the simplest cell.
IPhone has a setting for recent updates called Assistive Access. You can search on You Tube to see what it does and how to set up. It has been good (not great but good) for my 80 yo dad we just placed in memory care. It gives him the simplest access to apps you choose--we chose phone only at first, but he wanted to take a selfie after his haircut to send to my mom :) so we went back in and added text, camera, and photos.
ANYTHING new is hard to figure out for both of them. Even if YOU think it's easy, or there are fewer buttons, or "all you have to do is push the UP arrow, Mom" (remote). My MIL's radio quit working - hubby bought her the simplest one he could find, there is only ONE radio station in her town. All she had to do is push the on/off button.
She says it doesn't work. Turns out she was messing with it and turned the volume all the way down.
I realize that I'm going a little off the topic of phones, just making the point that whatever you buy may still not give you the results you want. And it's not the fault of the phone.
The jethro phone was very much like an old wired phone. It's a cell phone, with a base cradle that you sit it in. The base keeps it charged. The phone doesn't have internet at all, it's just a phone and you can txt with it (although my Mom doesn't). The operation of the phone is just like an old wired phone. It has two buttons at the top, green for call/answer, and red for hang up. The phone buttons are large, so you just dial the number and hit the green button to call.
Without internet, there is no possibility of my Mom doing something by accident. And with the way it operates and the large buttons, it's easy for her to use.
I bought mine off amazon, the phone was about $100 and a years unlimited calling and txt was another $100. So $200 for a year unlimited and after the first year it'll just be $100/year.
It's working out great, had it for about 2 months now. The only issue is that sometimes she has a hard time getting it loud enough. But that would be the case with anything.
Also try RAZ memory phone at razmobility.com.
At telecalm they provide a scam and spam blocking phone that can stop multiple outgoing numbers repeated over short time period, and family or facility notifications of 911 calls. They work on your own corded phone and require no internet necessarily. Choices explained on line or through their customer service.
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