Jitterbug Phone Service

S

SlowNeasy

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http://www.jitterbug.com/

has anyone tried jitterbug or know much about it? my 87 year old mom went into a nursing home friday for 1-3 months (hopefully 1) of rehab. long story short we're not thrilled with the nursing home. there are no phones (not even jacks) for the residents there and she needs a phone. it has to be SIMPLE to use and provide decent coverage. i'm not really concerned with price as much as i am usability for someone that's elderly and infirm. she's still got her mental faculties but does get easily confused. any suggestions for just a SIMPLE cell phone? is a tracfone easy to use? as in stone cold dead simple. <g> no video, text, cooking or cleaning required. just a simple cell phone.
 
SlowNeasy said:
http://www.jitterbug.com/

has anyone tried jitterbug or know much about it? my 87 year old mom went into a nursing home friday for 1-3 months (hopefully 1) of rehab. long story short we're not thrilled with the nursing home. there are no phones (not even jacks) for the residents there and she needs a phone. it has to be SIMPLE to use and provide decent coverage. i'm not really concerned with price as much as i am usability for someone that's elderly and infirm. she's still got her mental faculties but does get easily confused. any suggestions for just a SIMPLE cell phone? is a tracfone easy to use? as in stone cold dead simple. <g> no video, text, cooking or cleaning required. just a simple cell phone.
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I use straight talk..1000 mins for 30.00. bought a 40 dollar phone and very happy with the service. They are owned by trac phone. I wonder how your mom will do with the small buttons?
 
I've got a $30 Motorola from Wally World, it's a pay as you go trac fone.
The buttons are small, I really wouldn't recommend it for your mom.
I did a search for large button cell phones, Jitterbug is at the top of the list.
 
small buttons are out. one of the things we got her for christmas was a large magnifying glass so she can see things easier. she doesn't sew anymore because she can't see well enough to do it.
 
We looked and looked for a phone for the wife's mother (82 year old) and finally found one that we thought would be great. It's a companion to our Verizon so it only costs the $9 bucks or so to add on to our account. We got her this phone for Christmas and I spent this weekend trying to teach her how to use it. If only you knew my MIL. Long story short (believe it or not), after two hours of teaching, showing, and getting down right exasperated, I finally told her, if you want to call someone, just open the phone, punch in their number and then mash the "send" button. She said, "OH, is that all there is to it?"

Verizon has a phone that is made for seniors with poor eyesight. The phone is simple with no extras, i.e. camera, music, etc. It does allow for some special features such as of course contacts, which was a major problem teaching the MIL, and special buttons on the key pad, such as 911, ICE etc. I looked at Jitterbug when we looked for a phone for her, but the cost was way too much just for the phone, and with our service, it was too much to pass up.

There are several different services that you can purchase that use only what you "purchase", but again, those phones don't have the bigger numbers and have some complicated, for some seniors, instructions on how to use. My advice is to check them all out, on line and in person and then make a choice. Verizon is the only service that at this time has a special phone made for this purpose, other than Jitterbug. Just know that Jitterbug will cost you the price of the phone at first and then a plan that fits. I think there are two different phones from which to choose and both are around $150 each.

Good luck, you'll need it if only to teach your "youngster" how to use the phone. :)
 
thanks everyone for your responses. we decided to go with the jitterbug for it's simplicity. it is more expensive but i like that there's no service contract i'll be tied to for a year or more. it's in my name so my mother will never see a bill for it. she'd have a fit if she knew what it costs. <g> even though i have 3 sisters and a brother in this area it's not always possible for one of us to visit her daily and see that she's getting proper meds, prescribed blood work and physical therapy. most of us share the opinion of my younger sister's boyfriend when he said "he wouldn't let his cows stay there". unfortunately, there's little choice in local nursing homes. hopefully she will get strong enough to leave there and go back to her apartment with home health care coming in daily. one of my sister's literally lives 10 feet from her door and getting her back home is our main goal now.
 
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