SteveMA

EPTR--like I said earlier--often a smartphone is easier for them to use because the buttons get bigger. I've found that with my own parents--never used their phones until they got smart phones.

patsmom

EPTR, I researched cellphones for my elderly mother recently. I thought the Jitterbug was going to be the answer to my prayers but I read so many negative reviews about the customer service and the relatively expensive plans that I decided against that one. We ended up getting her a Samsung Gusto2 prepaid phone and she likes it a lot. She only uses the phone to make calls but the phone does have a camera, which is nice even though she'll never figure out how to use it. It can be programmed so that the phone "speaks" the numbers as they are pressed, and the font can be made larger so the numerals are easier to see on screen.

Mansfield

I was aware of the Jitterbug reviews/cost when I was researching phones. However, mom had been sucked in by the ads in Parade magazine and other places. She was like a little kid who insisted on having some over-hyped new toy. She wore me down. At this point in her life, there's not much that makes her happy or feel comfortable...except a nice red Jitterbug phone. So be it!

EPTR

Thanks, Patsmom, I'll check it out!

RobD

Thanks for the Snapfon recommendation. We had one of our basic cell phones reactivated for my mom a few years ago when she was going to Vegas. I spent at least an hour over a few sessions explaining, demonstrating & having her use it. It was a disaster. She hardly ever answered it (said she didn't hear it/feel it vibrate and/or when she did she hit the wrong buttons) and when she did she'd yell into it like a walkie talkie and not put it to her ear.

Of course, she still can't work the VCR and/or DVD player and uses the microwave as a bread box so technology is not her friend

We looked into the Jitterbug as well but the plans were too $$ for what they were, plus reviews were bad. I'd like her to have something for when we go out. I lose her everytime we go to WalMart or the mall & spend 1/2 hour looking for her.

EPTR

Rob, are you sure were not syblings?! Lol.

That's about my mom's speed with technology, as well. There is no way she could manage a smart phone or even a flip phone. And with any of those, I believe you need to buy some kind of data plan and she won't use that.

I really like the Spapfon idea and the SOS button on it is a good piece of mind. If she presses that button, it texts all of us and then calls the first number on the list, if there is no pick up, it calls the next one.

RobD

^^^Well, I'm told I'm an only child but I still have this fantasy where a long lost sibling shows up, if only so I can "share" mom with them

EPTR

Well, if you met my sisters and brother, you might not be so eager to join the "circus"!

ECmotherx2

RobD, I had to laugh when I read your post about a sibling. Earlier this year, my mom with Alzheimer's, kept insisting that she had 2 daughters. I'd like to know where the "H***" she's been all these years?

Consolation

SteveMA, you are correct: my mother doesn't hear her cell ring, but that is only because she doesn't carry it with her. When she is in the same room with it, she hears it and answers it. Her hearing is not great, she could undoubtedly use a hearing aid, but she is very far from deaf. She actually calls me on her cell every day. (I call her on her land line, at least when she has power! )

She is on my sister's cell plan, because it was cheaper for my sister to do that than to pay for the calls to her on another plan. I've tried to get her to take it with her when she goes out, but to no avail AFAIK. I'd like her to at least have it with her in the car.

I hadn't thought about the smartphone idea. She had to replace her ancient and insufficiently powerful laptop, and unfortunately my niece persuaded her to get an Ipad. The whole touchscreen thing is terrible for her: a conventional keyboard and a Windows machine--what she was familiar with--would have been much better. In addition, I very much doubt that she would go for paying for one.

I read all of the negative stuff about Jitterbug, too. One reason why we didn't go that way.

EPTR

Well we went shopping today and found a phone at Sears that had most of the same features as the Snapfon. It's the Doro Easyphone 410.

It is listed on the AARP website and AARP members get a discount on service. We activated it tonight and I am going to see my mom on Wednesday to set it up with the contacts, etc. Luckily it has a 45 day trial period.

I'll keep you posted so that others can consider it for their lived ones if it turns out to be a good fit.

fendergirl

eptr, i was actually going to suggest that phone for her. I've heard doro makes good phones for the elderly.

nj2011mom

All cell phones can dial 911 (as long as they are charged!) even if they aren't connected to any plan. We gave my 84yo mom one of our old phones to keep with her to use in an emergency.

Unfortunately she doesn't keep it charged
MOM: "you need to do that?"
ME (shakes head and sighs)

EPTR

Calling 911 was, of course, one of the things we wanted her to be able to do but we also want to be able to reach her if she isn't picking up the house phone. In the last year she has had two power outages in her building and we were unable to reachher.

The best feature of the Doro phone is that it has a button on the back that, when pressed, will notify all five of her main contacts that she has an emergency.

Kajon

My MIL can "locate" her cell phone now that we got her a colored one. The silver was forever misplaced.

My tip of the day.....Put a label on the back of the phone with her phone number and a couple other key numbers/speed dials. Also, put some sort of a sticker on the charger to identify the direction it plugs into the phone. MIL had trouble with this and when she couldn't 'force" it in, she just didn't charge it.

Another thought is to find a phone without a slippery finish. MIL kept her first one in her sweater pocket and it kept sliding out of her pocket.