Phone for person in Assisted Living??

[frugal-one]

MIL found walking the streets at 1am and did not know where she was .... fast forward .... now living here (2 hours away) in Assisted Living. MIL was not eating and could not manage to take her pills as needed. She was also seeing "people". Turns out if a person takes to much Parkinson meds (levodopa) that is the result. Anyways.... she has a phone for local calls but needs something for long distance. Jewelry has disappeared from her room so we are hesitant to get her a trac phone where anyone could use it and use up the minutes. Anyone have/had a similar dilemma and what did you do for long distance??? Sigh.

[CathyA]

Is she capable of using a phone reasonably well? We got my mother a land line phone when we admitted her into an assisted living place and paid for local and long-distance AT&T service (we lived 25 miles away, but it was still long distance). As it turned out, she was totally incapable of making a call. She deteriorated very quickly. So make sure your mom can actually reasonably use a phone. We ended up stopping the service, and the nurses would let her use their phone to occasionally call us, or we would call the nurses desk and they would go get her.
I hope your mom is doing better.

[ToomuchStuff]

There are problems with other options as well. Bosses, elderly mother uses a cell phone. However, if she forgets it, or is at a relatives house where it is roaming, she uses a phone card from Sam's club (1000 minutes for around $20). This could have the same issue as the cell phone.
Another option, depends on her ability to use a computer; Skype, Magic Jack or the like. I would think your best option if for them to have your contact information (in case of issues) and make regular calls TO her). It also gives her something to look forward to.

I haven't looked into this for quite a while, but there was also a phone called the Jitterbug. Cell phone that rings like a regular phone, has a large print screen, etc. I wanted to use that phone, with my phone service, and get one for a friend with vision issues, but that wasn't an option. Its target audience was seniors.

[axis9313]

Get her a land line. A land phone will be easier for her to hold and operate. She may be not be able to call out without assistance, but she may be able to answer the phone if you call. If not, you can call the nurses station and have them assist. You may want to use the phone while you're there anyway.

When I was visiting my dad in the nursing home, a lot of times another family member would call (if they couldn't physically visit) and then talk to my dad and me. I could help my dad with the phone while I was there. My dad enjoyed talking to the other family member and it was kind of like having a little party.

[Float On]

That's horrible that jewelry and things have gone missing. I think the problem with having a long distance landline in the room would be the 'not so great employees' of the facility that would make long distance calls when your MIL is out of her room. I would probably still vote for a tracfone or jitterbug she can hide it and not put much time on it or a phone card but then she'll have to punch in a bunch of numbers to make a call.

[frugal-one]

Guess I did not make myself clear. MIL is now in Assisted Living in the town we live. She has local service where she can call us but cannot call people from where she used to live. In the few weeks since she has been there her mental capacities have gotten better. She has gained weight and her meds are given regularly ... as they should be. So she is doing fairly well. She is capable of using the phone but we now have to think of how best to get long distance for her. As others stated, perhaps the trac phone IS the best thing for now.