Tv remote the flipper

Bear44

Registered User
Sep 28, 2015
126
0
USA
My dad is having alot of trouble now with the tv remote, changing the input, getting remotes from the tv in the other room and trying to use it. He's called me screaming multiple times now and I've had to rush over and fix it.

I have ordered a remote control called the flipper, has anybody used this one?
It was recommended by the Alzheimer's organization.
uploadfromtaptalk1445518464533.jpg
 

bemused1

Registered User
Mar 4, 2012
3,402
0
We have one it's very simple to programme but hubs forgets how to use even this sometimes
 

Bear44

Registered User
Sep 28, 2015
126
0
USA
We have one it's very simple to programme but hubs forgets how to use even this sometimes
May I ask what stage your husband is?

My dad was just diagnosed with dementia and seems to be getting worse by the day. [emoji25]
 

bemused1

Registered User
Mar 4, 2012
3,402
0
Haven't a clue what stage. He isn't able to do much for himself but can hold a conversation as long as its short. In the early stages he did seem to get worse quite rapidly but now he tends to deteriorate in steps. He's been obviously I'll for about five years now with symptoms longer than that.
He's never actually been formally diagnosed but sometimes there's no point
Keep posting, you will find lots of helpful friends, there is always somebody with an answer to most questions and we are very friendly
 

tigerqueen

Registered User
Mar 11, 2014
75
0
Essex
We've been using the flipper for a couple of years and it worked really well
The programming is quite easy ( even a technophobe like me managed it). I used basic programming for my husband to start with but when he started to struggle with that I then programmed it to just have 3 channels to make it easier to get back to the start. You can choose his favour ite programmes and just have those to choose from.

Unfortunately like all aids as my husbands AD has progressed he is now only able to use the on/off button. My husband is mid stage with a mmse score of 13.

Good luck
 

nmintueo

Registered User
Jun 28, 2011
844
0
UK
Yes, I do like the Flipper -- especially where someone keeps using the TV remote but gets into trouble with all the complicated features on a typical remote.

A common problem - and I saw this with my mother - was the difficulty of navigating stations by using Up and Down buttons: how do you know when you've reached the right station? And it wasn't long before she started to lose interest in watching, and it no longer seemed to occur to her to use the TV, although if you asked her to turn on the TV, she could readily pick up the remote correctly and turn it on without any problem.

See previous post (and links from there) --

Help with the TV?
http://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/showthread.php?61239&p=835451&viewfull=1#post835451
 

Lindy50

Registered User
Dec 11, 2013
5,242
0
Cotswolds
I got one for mum, it worked well and was easy to programme.

However, it brought to light another problem: mum really had no idea what she wanted to watch, so changing channels was a bit pointless anyway. And within months she'd stopped watching TV at all, I think because she couldn't follow it.

So TV watching became something we did together, with me choosing channels, eg selecting something like trooping the colour that I thought she'd like. When the commentaries upset her because they sounded go her like gobbledegook, we no longer watched much!!

So you may be lucky :) It's a good system and works well, just depends on how your dad is.

All the best :)

Lindy xx
 

Bear44

Registered User
Sep 28, 2015
126
0
USA
Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences with me.

Sorry that I didn't respond earlier, I'm still trying to figure out how to run two households and take care of my 3 kids.

I am going to program his favorite channels tomorrow and then hide his other remotes.
 

nmintueo

Registered User
Jun 28, 2011
844
0
UK
See also:

TV Remote Control
http://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/showthread.php?88947&p=1218148&viewfull=1#post1218148

I bought the Flipper ... It looks so simple, what could possibly go wrong? Turns out lots!
...
but she does still like to see the TV guide and can manage that with the Sky remote, so I re-programmed it just for the TV and taped over the channel buttons with parcel tape.

So far so good... The Flipper has not disappeared and the constant phone calls that she can't turn the TV on have stopped.

Dementia friendly/helpful items or equipment.
http://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/showthread.php?87568

I bought a Flipper TV remote ... It has saved a great deal of stress.
 
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TooHard

Registered User
Sep 16, 2015
109
0
I set up a Flipper for my mum today. Because mum is visually impaired as well as having dementia it's increasingly difficult for her to work the normal remote control and, because I live 100 miles away, it can be difficult to talk her through changing the channel by phone. It has become all but impossible to talk her through any channel which has 2 digits.

Hannspree is not one of the tv makes that is listed but it was relatively easy to manually set the handset up. I've programmed it for 8 channels - I'll never have to see BBC Alba again! The only problem I foresee is when I phone to say a specific programme is on which I currently do when there's a particular programme she enjoys and hoping we can find it with just scrolling through the 8 favourites. I had put a wee bit of yellow insulating tape on the volume button of her current remote control but she had a real problem using it so I'm hoping the big orange buttons will be easier.
 

Livveywills

Registered User
Jul 11, 2015
57
0
Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences with me.

Sorry that I didn't respond earlier, I'm still trying to figure out how to run two households and take care of my 3 kids.

I am going to program his favorite channels tomorrow and then hide his other remotes.

I hadn't heard of the flipper, I'm so going to get one and program it down to just a few channels. Sounds wonderful. Although it still won't make Emmerdale play 24 hours a day will it:(

Just wanted to respond to this comment, Mum has been diagnosed for the past 2 years and deteriating rapidly. We live in the same street and have 5 kids, so I can empathise with the difficulties fo running two households with the chaos of family life!

I think I struggled on for too long unhelped. I should have got an assesment for care support earlier. I so wanted to look after mum myself because I knew thats what she would have wanted - it is what she would say even now that she thinks family should do it all.

But what I didn't realise until I started to come through what I am sure was a bit of a breakdown this summer, is that my children are still my children, and when i became so absorbed by trying to cope with the day to day world of dementia and keep all fo the family balls juggling, my complete exhaustion was stealing their mother and my husbands wife.

We now have day care and a carer who pops in twice a day, this means that there can be one or two days of the week where I don't see my mum and i am a better mother for it. We are also going to brave respite (we had one bad experience where mum had a fall and I was scared to try) again, to try to get regular breaks where we can be a family not worrying about mums safety.

You may already have this all sorted, I hope you don't mind me writing, just the juggling is awfully tiring