On 6/13/2010 9:33 PM, Lee B wrote:

Metspitzer wrote:
I went to visit my aunt in the convalescent center. She has dementia.
She seems very sharp minded, but sometimes she talks about things you
know are just not true.

Anyway, her children won't let her have a phone because she has been
known to call the local sheriff's office to complain about a relative
stealing from her (which no one else believes is true).

I was wondering, and will check Monday, if the phone company offers a
service where she would be able to receive calls, but not be able to
make them. I am sure there would be a way to disable the phone to
prevent her from making calls, but it would seem to me that if the
phone company offered such a service it might also be a lower cost.

Does it have to be a land line? What about a children's cell phone like
Firefly? I don't know much about kids' cell phones, but apparently they
have "parental controls" that would allow her kids to restrict outgoing
calls to certain numbers, like theirs.
Many nursing homes will not allow cell
phones because of loss and "theft" ....
theft being loss by a resident, but
telling that it was stolen. There are
probably 2 reasons for the no cell
phones, bother to the staff and as
someone mentioned, their phone is a
profit center for them. When my mother
was in a nursing home a few years ago,
they charged $25 per month for a phone
and you provide the phone. And, the $25
is whether the resident used it or not.