Helping my 98 YO grandma use an iPhone-

[Sule]

Hello! First post here. I moved my grandma down to FL to an ALF to be near me because she can no longer live by herself. I got her an iPhone thinking it might be the best option because she can just press the button and say, "Call Sule" and it will call me, or anyone else she says to call. But she's got a tiny touch of dementia- just enough to not be able to learn how to use it. She never remembers where to press or how to work it. So I am wondering if there is some device that exists to enable me to hook a regular phone up to her iPhone to make calls. The reason I want to stick with the iPhone, also, is that if I install a landline in her room, it will cost a lot more than the $10/month plan we have for her iPhone, because all our extended family are in MI.

I've seen the devices that turn an iPhone into a desk phone, but that won't work because it utilizes the iPhone's keypad as the phone's keypad, and those numbers will be too small for her to see. I have a great old regular phone with ginormous numbers that will work perfectly for her.

Is anyone here aware of such a device? Something that connects the regular phone to the iPhone and enables her to make calls just like she was using a landline. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Sule]

Wow- nothing, eh?

 

[Jstuts5797]

Hmm, interesting idea you have, and I FOR SURE see a good use case scenario for this, but I've never heard of or seen such a device. The closest I've see is like you said - you'd still be using the iPhone keypad to dial. Might I suggest one of those cricket phones? They have super large buttons and some have no screen at all. You can even program certain buttons to auto call certain people. So in theory should just have to pick it up and press one button to call you and that's it. Just a thought. Either way I wish you luck, and out of curiosity if you DO find a solution I'd love for you to report back. My mom just turned 74 and she still can use an iPhone very well.. But you never know when the day might come. (I Pray that never happens though)

 

[nebo1ss]

How about this.

http://www.amazon.com/Snapfon-Senior-Hearing-Compatible-UNLOCKED/dp/B005CWSF3U

 

[Sule]

Thanks, Jstuts5797 and nebo1ss, I appreciate your responses. I may have to consider a phone such as those specially made for seniors, but I'm hesitant to waste more money if it doesn't work. Ideally I could find some way to connect the regular phone to a USB, and then the USB to her iPhone, and it would just access her phone mechanism in the iPhone. I suppose I can keep dreaming. I was just wondering if anyone else here had come across anything that might work. Thanks!!

 

[Jstuts5797]

I'll keep my eyes and ears open for any solutions I might come across and post here. You should have auto subscribed to this post so if it's been awhile you should get a notification of a new reply.

 

[AppleCaked]

I'll keep my eyes and ears open for any solutions I might come across and post here. You should have auto subscribed to this post so if it's been awhile you should get a notification of a new reply.

I have experience with my 95 yr old mother-in-law. She could use a senior type cell phone OK. But we found it helpful to set her up with a PC running skype such that when we called her it would automatically answer. it showed us her room in the assisted living facitlity. We would call out to her and even if she was in the bathroom, she would respond and show up to continue the conversation.

 

[Sule]

Thanks, Jstuts5797! I appreciate it!

AppleCaked, so you bought her a PC, then made it so that if someone skipped her, it would automatically open Skype on it? That's neat! I have no idea how I would do something like that but if you have the details, could you share? Thanks!!

 

[AppleCaked]

Thanks, Jstuts5797! I appreciate it!

AppleCaked, so you bought her a PC, then made it so that if someone skipped her, it would automatically open Skype on it? That's neat! I have no idea how I would do something like that but if you have the details, could you share? Thanks!!

Thats exactly right. She had a PC before she moved to Assist Living. She loved to see the grandchildren on Skype. Once she was moved to her unit, we set up the PC so the Skype camera (a logitech) would turn on when anyone called her. Its a Skype option. She did not have to accept the call. She did not mind the privacy issues since it was only her family that would call. Your grandma may be confused to hear and see someone on the computer if she had not used Skype before she became limited. If your grandma has advanced dementia she would probably not be able to make a call. We eventually got Grandma an iPad to do her crosswords, but I think she had to "accept" the skype calls coming in. As far as I know, Facetime requires the person being called to accept the call.

Family from Norway, Nevada and California could continue to be part of her life. Hope this give you some ideas.

 

[Sule]

It does, indeed, but she can't even remember how to push the little circle button on her iPhone to say "Call Sule" to call me, so I don't think those options are feasible. But thank you for the idea. I'll mull it over to see if there is some workable permutation. lol!