Cell phone that doesn't act like cell phone (for dementia patient)

November 27, 2015 8:25 AM

My 90-year-old aunt was just admitted to a nursing home, and they aren't set up to have landlines in individual rooms. For patients to have phones in their rooms, relatives need to provide cell phones. My aunt has some dementia. She still enjoys talking on the phone (and most of us live hundreds of miles away, so it's important), but she really is incapable of learning anything new. When I talk to her, she often won't remember something I said just five minutes before. More below.

Every time I talk to her on the nursing home's phone, she gets confused and has to ask them how to use it and what to do when the conversation's over, so she needs a phone that looks and acts like a traditional phone. I don't think she'd be capable of using something like the Jitterbug, which I know is marketed to elderly people. I've heard that some elderly people can't process the Jitterbug's ring as a phone ringing - so I doubt she'd be able to. I have searched and found some phones that look good, but have been discontinued. I found this one on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Wireless-GSM-Desktop-Phone-Gadgets%C2%AE/dp/B00MWJS6HQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1448478717&sr=8-2&keywords=desk+phone+sim+card), but it doesn't have very good reviews. So I thought I'd ask here if anyone knows of any other options or has experience with the phone I found. Thank you!

posted by FencingGal to Shopping (14 answers total)

Best answer: Is there internet service available in her room? You could set up a VOIP phone, or use an Ooma or Obihai adapter with a standard phone, which would feel pretty familiar. This option depends upon a dependable internet connection.
posted by BillMcMurdo at 8:41 AM on November 27, 2015 [3 favorites]

Best answer: They have little cell phone receiver antenna things. Looks like an answering machine and you just plug your regular landline phone into its jack instead of the wall jack. We have ours through Verizon.
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 8:41 AM on November 27, 2015 [5 favorites]

Response by poster: One thing I forgot to mention - she isn't going to be able to manage a charger, so the phone will need to plug into the wall.

I don't know if she has an internet connection.
posted by FencingGal at 8:43 AM on November 27, 2015

Best answer: Everything plugs into the wall. You could probably even use it with a regular old corded home phone. So she wouldn't have to press buttons, just actually "hang up".
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 8:45 AM on November 27, 2015

Is this phone too techy for your aunt?

Emporia Essence Plus (Unlocked) Senior Elderly Big Button GSM Cellular Phone
posted by eatcake at 10:45 AM on November 27, 2015

Not sure what you consider a 'traditional phone'. I have a cordless landline phone that bluetooths to my mobile, so I can use the cordless handset to call/receive calls on the landline or the mobile. I presume that the mobile part of it would work even if the landline part was not connected, just leave the mobile switched on, on the floor/in a drawer connected to a charger. How this would work in your environment I don't know, but if you can find a handset with Bluetooth that she would be familiar with, or would be learnable for her, this could be a solution.
posted by GeeEmm at 12:28 PM on November 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

What about a conventional cell phone with a 'retro' handset attached to it? It sounds like with a traditional phone she would need assistance to dial/answer anyway, but this way she would have a familiar 'handset' to talk into, which would at least be familiar.
posted by Northbysomewhatcrazy at 12:53 PM on November 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'll be watching this with interest, as I ran into a similar set of problems in trying to find a phone for my father when he went into a nursing home. Knowing how to start and end calls is a big problem with most phones I looked at, since most new phones have separate buttons for calling and hanging up, unlike traditional phones. Also, being able to distinguish and push smaller buttons with diminished motor skills and eyesight is problematic—ultimately, he has become too weak to properly feel for and push the right buttons on even the old-school big-button phone I got, and his hands are too weak to hold a traditional or hospital-style handset. So those are some things to consider. I wonder if anyone makes a GSM traditional phone yet...
posted by limeonaire at 12:55 PM on November 27, 2015

Best answer: Oh wow, what about something like this, if her motor skills are up to the rotary dial? Looks like there is this as well if not. You'd probably want one with better reviews, though.
posted by limeonaire at 1:00 PM on November 27, 2015

Assistive technology stores often have products that might be suitable, such as Assistech's collection of phones for low-vision/visually impaired people.
posted by apennington at 1:28 PM on November 27, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks everyone. She was able to manage answering her 1970s landline phone until she went into the nursing home, so I think she can answer a traditional desk phone at this point - which in this situation means one where you can just pick up the handset and talk into when it rings. She was having some trouble making phone calls, but I think she will probably wait for us to call her anyway - she's just like that. The cell phone with the retro handset would still mean needing to know how to answer a cell phone, so I don't see that working. The Emporia looks too techy for her. I think having the buttons on the handset is problematic. There's a big difference between a senior who's 70 and one who's 90 with dementia, and senior-friendly items seemed to be aimed at the 70 year old. If this is how nursing homes are working now, I think the phone companies are missing a marketing opportunity. Alzheimer's boards are full of people trying to find solutions for this problem. Fortunately, I knew to come here.
posted by FencingGal at 1:43 PM on November 27, 2015 [3 favorites]

Whatever phone you get, make sure the ringer volume can be adjusted ... up for the hard-of-hearing patient, down for the staff/ward/overnight.

We've been watching HBO's Getting On lately and it's wonderful / awful.
posted by intermod at 2:03 PM on November 27, 2015

Best answer: One of these plus something like the Verizon box Green Eyed Monster mentions might be the ticket. I've been looking at this which can take Bluetooth from a cell and connect corded phones like that. Then you could just buy a cheap cell and plan from your cell provider, keep it always plugged in, and use an old-school phone like that with it.
posted by limeonaire at 2:37 PM on November 27, 2015

Oh I have one of those home phone/cellular adaptor devices still in its unopened box – AT&T gave it to me when I added a line and I never used it. Check your MeFi Mail, it's yours if you want it!
posted by nicwolff at 12:23 PM on November 28, 2015 [4 favorites]