Best Cell Phone For Seniors With Dementia

Cell Phone Carriers For Seniors

While most popular carriers offer phones that may be suitable for older adults, there are two main providers that focus solely on designing the best cellular plans and phones for seniors: Lively and Consumer Cellular. Check out the chart below for more details on these providers plans, phones, and pricing.

The Doro Phonesimple 626

The Doro PhoneSimple 626 is likely one of the easiest large button mobile phone for seniors. This is a no-frills turn telephone best possible for Shopper Cellular shoppers who desire a telephone for calling and texting. Doro PhoneSimple 626 is one of the characteristic telephones that fell out of style when folks grew to become for smartphones, however stay a forged selection for many who desire a easy to make use of and no-frills tool.

Options Of Doro PhoneSimple 626

PROS

• Lacks web and electronic mail get admission to

Link Ii From Consumer Cellular

If youre looking for an affordable smartphone for a dementia patient, the Link II From Consumer Cellular is amongst your best options. For a start, its large keypad makes this smartphone simple and easy-to-use.

As far as its price tag is concerned, the Link II From Consumer Cellular only costs $35. With a payment plan, you would pay a mere $15 per month.

Read Also: Best Rechargeable Hearing Aids For Seniors

Do Seniors With Dementia Need A Cell Phone

Actually, yes, depending on the stage of their illness, seniors struggling with memory loss really can benefit from a cell phone for a number of reasons. Practically speaking, having a mobile phone handy gives older folks with difficulties remembering more independence. With the right phone, they can call for help if theres an emergency or they have a foggy moment. They can also use GPS navigation features to find their way home if they wander.

Most importantly, cell phones make it easier for loved ones to stay in touch. This is probably the best reason for older adults with memory loss to have a phone. Studies have shown that just 10 minutes of social contact a day can improve their quality of life substantially.1

Additionally, with GPS tracking, family members and caregivers can locate loved ones quickly if they go missing or get lost. Many cell phones for seniors also come with medical alert or emergency response features for good reason. Approximately 70 percent of seniors with dementia experience a fall every year,2 so monitoring features like fall detection, activity tracking, and an SOS button can be literal lifesavers.

Consider A Smart Watch Made For Seniors

Replacing standard watches with smart watches can be a good way to supplement a cell phone for seniors and make one-touch responses that much easier. Helpful features include a high-contrast background for readability and simple buttons to manage dexterity issues.

Take a look at: The Verizon Care Smart watch offers both pre-loaded messages and a limited number of 10 pre-approved contacts to minimize the risk of fraud calls.

Read Also: Housing For Seniors On Social Security In Florida

Top Tips When Buying The Devices

Before purchasing them, you need to make note of a few things to get the best value for money.

Carrier Plan

Take a look at the handset does it come with a carrier plan? If so, your loved one would always have a connection. The majority of units we talked about come with some kind of plan.

Not all plans are the same, though. Some networks provide better coverage than others. An example would be AT& T.

Warranty

Elders, especially those suffering from conditions like dementia, can be clumsy. If they dont own a device like the Ulephone, they could misuse it. Make sure that your seller provides a warranty. The longer it is, and the more aspects it covers, the better the purchase.

Return Policy

Although the mobile may work fine for most dementia patients, your elderly relative may not like it. For example, they may not like the fact that its a flip-phone. To avoid these sticky situations, the seller should have a return policy.

The Best Cell Phone For Seniors With Dementia Or Alzheimers

We have added some important information to each item on this list to help you choose which one is the best cell phone for seniors with dementia. We should note that while some of the phones on this list have integrated GPS tracking capabilities, they are only secondary features to the phones communication feature. Because of this, a phones tracking feature will always be less effective than actual GPS trackers for their protection.

Similar to phone GPS trackers, SOS buttons are only for alerting emergency services and loved ones that the owner is in danger. When going out, it might also be a good idea to have a personal safety alarm with your family to protect against other people. With that done, here is our list of the best cell phones for seniors with Dementia or Alzheimers!

Don’t Miss: Government Benefits For Seniors Over 65

Future Call Picture Care Desktop Phone Memory

The top-rating future call brand has gone out of its way and crafted an exquisite phone that is more oriented for seniors with dementia. The featured memory dialing characteristic is active in both One touch and normal dialing modes.

Standard dialing is inactive when in One Touch mode, meaning that standard phone calls cannot go through. However, to advance this, a phone number store on/off switch has been integrated to avoid accidental deletion or changing memories, ensuring that your stored phone numbers are protected.

It is recommendable to set the Store on/off switch in an on position to enable storage of memories. This unit allows you to place 1 * 1 pictures on each button to facilitate programmable memory dialing. The beauty of this is that even when accidentally unplugged or in the case of a power outage, these pictures will not be lost.

Pros

• Flashes bright LED lights to alert you of notifications.
• Allows reprogramming of the red 911 button.
• New Store ON/OFF switch with multiple meritorious roles.

Cons

• Not meant for wall hanging but rather designed for desktop only.

Vtech Dect 60 Phone Answering System

This is yet another phenomenal phone from the creditable VTech brand that conveys cordless convenience, which is ideal for seniors. It also supports hands-free conversations at the touch of a button, meaning you will not have to move to the handset to receive calls physically.

It is equipped with an illuminated keypad augmented by an LCD screen for heightened visibility even in dim light conditions. Being a cordless unit, the provided cordless handset is fitted with one specific battery. A power-conserving technology has been incorporated to oversee energy consumption hence promoting optimal battery performance.

If you wish to have a silent environment, this unit ensures helps you just that. You can instantly silence the ringer on the base unit and the handset or opt to set the silence for an extended period. The brilliant caller ID/call waiting feature will inform you about the details of the caller.

Pros

• Supports both wall and table mounting.

Cons

• It can be expanded to accommodate up to four handsets. These handsets, however, are sold separately.

Recommended Reading: Senior Living The Woodlands Tx

What Cell Phone Do Seniors With Dementia Need

Before we start with a list of the best cell phone for seniors with Dementia, we first need to talk about why seniors with Dementia need a special phone. A lot of different diseases could result in Dementia, like Alzheimers, Parkinsons, Huntingtons, and severe types of multiple sclerosis . Dementia itself has different stages, ranging from patients having almost no symptoms to truly debilitating motor and mental problems. Throughout these stages, the phone patients would need changes depending on what they can do independently. Regardless of how early or late the stage of dementia your loved one has, a cell phone will give them more independence to go about their day-to-day lives.

There are several benefits seniors with Dementia get when they have cell phones. The first of these benefits is communication, as it lets seniors alleviate loneliness by talking with their friends and loved ones. There are other benefits to having a phone, depending on what type of phone they get. These include virtual assistants, automated reminders, calendars, GPS tracking, and SOS buttons for medical emergencies. All-in-all, the best cell phone for seniors with Dementia will allow them to better act by themselves and remember things they need to do. It also lets family and medical personnel quickly respond to emergencies or track their loved ones when needed.

Easiest Dementia Phone To Use

The Easyfone T200 4G Unlocked is a simple and straightforward cell phone for seniors with dementia. The phone is designed exclusively for calling and texting there is no camera or internet connection available. With that in mind, its great for seniors who are not tech-savvy, but who want a reliable way to stay in touch with their friends and family.

Basic functions and safety features of the Easyfone include:

• Hearing aid compatibility
• Backlit screen
• Long-lasting battery

The Easyfone T200 4G Unlocked is compatible with the T-Mobile carrier and comes with a charging dock, USB cable, US standard charger, and one battery.

Recommended Reading: Affordable Housing For Senior Citizens

Will Have To A Individual With Dementia Have A Phone

Dementia is an age-associated clinical situation the place affected events be afflicted by widespread amnesia. Like different actions of day by day residing, the use of a mobile phone is probably not an issue for people affected by early levels of dementia. On the other hand, because the illness advances, seniors come across a number of issues when the use of mobile phones.

That stated, you shouldnt suppose that your senior cherished one affected by dementia will keep in mind the use of the telephone accurately. There are top possibilities that the individual is not going to retain the data of the use of the mobile phone for lengthy. You could as smartly to find the individual perplexed that standard.

How To Choose Care Phones For People With Dementia Or Alzheimer’s

When choosing a care phone for individuals with Dementia or Alzheimer’s, you must make several considerations. Most of these considerations are mainly related to the features of the phone, which dictate how easy it will be for your loved one to use the phone. They include:

1. Large Buttons

Often, small buttons close together are irritating to seniors, especially if they have some form of visual impairment or poor eyesight. Consider choosing phones with large buttons that make it easy to read and hit to avoid accidental taps.

2. T-Coil Compatibility

If your loved one has trouble hearing and must use a hearing aid, consider using a hearing aid that is compatible with a T-coil. That way, you are sure that your loved one can easily hear and understand what is said.

3. Hands-Free Speaker

Most seniors prefer having a hands-free speaker mode to allow them to talk without clinging to the phone. This will also help your loved ones if they have a hard time aligning the handset on their ear.

4. Loud Ringer Or Visual Ringer

A loud ringer is of help to loved ones who have Dementia or Alzheimer’s but also have trouble hearing. It offers seniors higher ringing volumes than normal and flashing lights to ensure they do not miss out on any phone calls.

5. Simplicity

Simplicity Endeavour to buy your senior a phone that has simple features to accommodate their memory loss. Limit the features to the number of features they can comfortably use.

Recommended Reading: Walmart Landline Phones For Seniors

Whats The Best Phone For Seniors With Dementia

Remember our talk on free phones for hard-of-hearing seniors? One of the things we said was that the impairment usually affects each one differently, and its also true in this case.

In other words, the best phone for seniors with Dementia depends on the level of cognitive impairment.

For instance, a person with mild dementia might be able to operate a regular phone, including even your smartphone. The symptoms in this stage are mostly decreased work performance and mild memory loss- keeps misplacing items.

But with mid-stage dementia, the person will develop symptoms like difficulty with perception and cant remember personal things like addresses or phone numbers. Thus, might need a specialized phone that wont create more confusion.

And that said, my top three favorite phones for Seniors with Dementia include:

• Best of Design: Easyfone Prime-A1 Pro Seniors Phone w/ SOS Button

Further Insight Into Our Methodology

Like other mobile phones, cell phones for seniors come in many shapes and sizesit all depends on the persons needs. Flip and bar phones are almost always cheaper and have greater battery capacity, given their relative lack of battery-draining features. Smartphones, on the other hand, have larger screens and offer a number of helpful applications and settings for those who want to do more than just make calls and send texts. We also consider the kind of monitoring a phone offers.

After looking at a phone’s features, we consider a couple of additional traits. One of them is cost and coverage. We first consider whether the cell phone model is unlocked. Unlocked phones offer users a choice of carrier, which enables consumers to shop around for the best plan. However unlocked phones must generally be purchased upfront by the consumer, potentially making the total initial costs higher. We also look at how many carriers service each cell phone. Once we’re done with service plans, we look at a few more points regarding the cell phone’s cost.

Last but not least, we looked at customer support. Given how much older people depend on their phones, strong customer support and a solid consumer rating are highly important. Cell phones are everyday items and, in the case of an issue or malfunction, it is essential for companies to be able to provide answers and alternatives.

Also Check: Microsoft Senior Software Engineer Salary

No Contract Cell Phones

The easiest way seniors can get monetary savings is by way of getting no-contract pay as you go mobile phones. Sometimes called pay-as-you-go mobile phones, there arent any fastened per 30 days expenses, no hidden prices, and no credit score exams that incessantly accompany conventional mobile phone plans. On this carrier, youll be able to acquire a pay as you go telephone and buy a given quantity of mins that can be utilized inside of a specified length.

Maximum carriers equivalent to Verizon and AT& T be offering affordable pay as you go plans. Unbiased carriers equivalent to Cricket, Virgin Cellular, TracFone, T-Cellular, and Net10 too can give you the easiest offers. TracFone, as an example, has plans beginning as little as $10 per 30 days and make contact with plans as little as $7.

Most definitely what many of us to find the most affordable choice for seniors is the no-contract senior appropriate telephones with large buttons is the Doro PhoneSimple 626 presented by way of Shopper Cellular. The plan prices $60 for turn telephones with calling plans that get started from $10 per 30 days.

Swissvoice C50s Smartphone + Base Station

Another exceptional device meant for people with dementia and intellectual disabilities is the Swissvoice C50s smartphone. This phone will ensure people with memory loss disease stay connected to their loved ones and stay safe at any time. The phone features a charging base station, which is super useful because it doesnt require the person to handle cables and charging issues. One can just place the phone into the base, and thats it.

The primary elements of this phone include

• Comfort base station for easy charging and use at home
• GPS location finder and an SOS button for emergency contacts
• Extra loud ringtones and audio boost for call receiver
• Compatibility with most hearing aids
• SOS button to alert and contact loved ones and share location

Because of the simple and straightforward features, the phone ensures reliable communication for those with dementia. The phone features large buttons, large text options, and a simple menu. The keyboard is also extra large and the overall phone interface is stripped back and left with essential features only.

The SOS button alerts up to 5 present contacts, shares GPS or geolocation, and provides safety to demented people when they get lost, or simply dont know where they are, even if theyre in their own house.

Also Check: Weatherization Assistance Program For Seniors

Important Considerations When Choosing A Phone For Someone With Dementia

The main thing youâre going to want to look for in a phone for your elderly family member with dementia is a phone that is easy to navigate. These phones should come with the most basic functions along with a large display screen that has big clear numbers and large buttons. Choosing a phone that is also equipped with voice-activated calling prompts along with safety features will also be a must for any senior struggling with dementia. Some other considerations that you will need to take into account are picking a phone that has apps that can include reminders, as well as choosing a phone that has long battery life.

Summary And Final Recommendations

There are so many ways that seniors can use smartphones. And, as you can see, there are several good cell phone options out there for seniors with dementia. Just look for one that is easy to use with large buttons that can be easily read.

Think about emergency situations too. You want your loved one to have quick access to help if there has been a quick access to a medical attention after a fall or a medical problem.

Do you know of other cell phones that are good for seniors with dementia? Let me know about them in the comments below.

Learn More About Computers and Phones

Also Check: Does Directv Offer Senior Discounts