What's your experience trying to select which phones to get for your pwd? Your opinions wanted...

[BobF]

I'm in the same boat as probably a lot of you here, which is I'm investigating different tech (home & mobile phones) for my M who has early dementia and is struggling now to use ANY technology whatsoever. She already has an emporia clamshell phone which she now can't even turn on.

I'm aware of several different models/brands/solutions out there, some quite pricey, and don't want to spend money we don't really have on something my M still might not be able to cope with and it end up being an expensive waste of money. After reading this forum it seems I'm not alone.

So I started doing some basic research on whether there are places to go or a local service available where family members can try out different dementia-friendly phones (and poss other tech) before they buy, to make sure they get the right products and we don't waste any money.

It appears there aren't any, at least not in my area of the SE where I live. I've spoken to Alzheimers Society and AgeUK, neither of which were much help. An ordinary phone store in my experience does not have the selection, range and expertise in dementia to offer this specialist service that we require.

My goal is now to find out :- Is there a widespread need for such a service? Could such a service poss be introduced?

I'd like your opinions please!

How did you go about choosing a phone (home or mobile) for your pwd?
Did you just have to take a gamble and go for something, like out of a mag or off the internet, hoping it would be suitable?
Did you get to try any new phone(s) before you committed to buying it/them? How many brands/models did you get to try?
Did you find out afterwards that your pwd still couldn't use it?
Have you wasted money because of this?
Would a local test/demo/trial of various devices beforehand from a specialist dementia-friendly place/team have saved you (and your pwd) time, money and stress?
Would a local specialist store/place have been of value, where you and your pwd could test all different available dementia-friendly phones in one location, with experts who specialise in dementia tech?
Or would you have liked a specialist to come to your pwd's home with a selection of models to try them out there instead? (This option might be more suited for trialling home/video phones particularly, as they could be tailored to the pwd's particular home environment/layout and integrated with existing systems to make sure it all works together eg router, internet etc)?

I look forward to your thoughts!
Bob Fleming

 

[try again]

We got through so many phones and ended up with an echo show . Using the drop in feature the PWD does not have to do anything to receive call.
We changed the wake word to computer and mum never did manage to remember to say computer call xxx , even when I had laminated a large card placed above the screen
the echo show came with many advantages such as adding photos, setting reminders.

I think the need is to get a total understanding of how difficult it is for a person with dementia to use any tech at all at some point
Certainly things that the echo show can do would be useful. Common problems are being able to access the TV remotely , especially to turn down the volume so that calls are successful.
Also options of how to use add ons, for example motion detectors.
Mum is now in a nursing home, and sadly my echo at home now is mainly used for radio/audio books. I'm sure she is capable of much more

I do think this would be a useful thing for the Alzheimer's society to be up to speed with but appreciate it might reduce the income from their shop.

 

[canary]

I think that whatever technology you choose will have a limited life span. The person with dementia may be able to use something today, and then tomorrow is not.

My OH was a software and telecoms engineer and was an early adopter of technology. He went through numerous types of mobile phone, ipads/android tablets etc and now cannot use anything - he cant even use the TV remote.

 

[Jude48]

I think that whatever technology you choose will have a limited life span. The person with dementia may be able to use something today, and then tomorrow is not.

My OH was a software and telecoms engineer and was an early adopter of technology. He went through numerous types of mobile phone, ipads/android tablets etc and now cannot use anything - he cant even use the TV remote.

Technology is extremely short lived I’ve got a house full of stuff and he can use nothing. There’s so much I don’t know which control belongs to what and how to rehome it

 

[faengelm]

We got through so many phones and ended up with an echo show . Using the drop in feature the PWD does not have to do anything to receive call.
We changed the wake word to computer and mum never did manage to remember to say computer call xxx , even when I had laminated a large card placed above the screen
the echo show came with many advantages such as adding photos, setting reminders.

I think the need is to get a total understanding of how difficult it is for a person with dementia to use any tech at all at some point
Certainly things that the echo show can do would be useful. Common problems are being able to access the TV remotely , especially to turn down the volume so that calls are successful.
Also options of how to use add ons, for example motion detectors.
Mum is now in a nursing home, and sadly my echo at home now is mainly used for radio/audio books. I'm sure she is capable of much more

I do think this would be a useful thing for the Alzheimer's society to be up to speed with but appreciate it might reduce the income from their shop.

I agree that Alexa Drop In is the way to go as it requires no interaction on you mum's part.

We got through so many phones and ended up with an echo show . Using the drop in feature the PWD does not have to do anything to receive call.
We changed the wake word to computer and mum never did manage to remember to say computer call xxx , even when I had laminated a large card placed above the screen
the echo show came with many advantages such as adding photos, setting reminders.

I think the need is to get a total understanding of how difficult it is for a person with dementia to use any tech at all at some point
Certainly things that the echo show can do would be useful. Common problems are being able to access the TV remotely , especially to turn down the volume so that calls are successful.
Also options of how to use add ons, for example motion detectors.
Mum is now in a nursing home, and sadly my echo at home now is mainly used for radio/audio books. I'm sure she is capable of much more

I do think this would be a useful thing for the Alzheimer's society to be up to speed with but appreciate it might reduce the income from their shop.

I agree that Alexa Drop In is the way to go as it requires no action on her part.
Here is some information:

How to Set Up Alexa Calling for a Loved One

Are you looking for a way to setup video chats with your loved one who lives independently or in a facility? This article tells you how to do that, using the Echo Show, without requiring your loved one to do any of the "setting up".

www.techenhancedlife.com