Recommend a very user-friendly cell phone for my parents?

My elderly parents have been advised to take a cell phone with them whenever they leave home. They have phones right now, but they (the phones) are rather old, and not particularly user-friendly - to the point that I don’t think my parents are really able to use those phones anymore. Dad has Parkinsons disease, which is affecting his mental agility; Mom’s mind is pretty much fine, but she has neurological issues that are causing severe limitations to dexterity. They’re not up for a whole lot of learning, and won’t be able to make use of any sort of phone that requires even average motor skills to operate.

I’m looking for recommendations for really easy-to use cell phones for them. Ideally, it would have large buttons (either physical buttons or large icons on a large touch-screen) that we could preprogram for certain numbers (like us kids, or the retirement facility they live in, etc.). Any suggestions?

iPhones for sure and I am guessing most Android phones have voice activation, which hopefully can help your parents.

I just sat here and with no hands said “Hey Siri” and my phone woke up and asked me what I wanted. If I had said “Call Bob” it would have happened.

KISA - perfectly designed for exactly people like your parents. It has no keypad, the display is simply large buttons with names and/or pictures. It come pre-programmed with up to 10 contacts, defined by you when you order it. Information about the phone’s owner, like emergency contact info and medical conditions, can be printed on the back of the device.

Note this is an Australian product, but according to their site it “works in all countries that use the GSM/WCDMA 2G/3G 850/900/1800/1900/2100 frequencies.”

The Jitterbug is a phone designed specifically for people like your parents.

If your parents are anything like mine, giving them a touchscreen or any phone that uses icons is a waste of time. The only cell phone they will use is one that closely emulates an older landline phone. In fact, I had some difficulty in getting my mother to understand that she had to use the on (send) and off buttons. She would open it, dial in a ten-digit number and just wait…for a long time. The only reason the calls were ever ended was that the phone would terminate the call when it was closed.

How much per month are they willing to pay for a service contract?

If they just need a phone to be occasionally connected by voice when away from home, the free Obamaphone is fine. If they can’t see the buttons or screen, get them a magnifying glass.

I had a TracFone for several years – for $80 a year, they can get voice connectivity with as many minutes a month as they are likely to gab on it. Phone itself maybe ten bucks at dollar store. I can’t recall, maybe 60 minutes a month. A lot more than I ever used.

My dad, who is old, a bit addled, and has Parkinson’s, seems to do well with his Jitterbug (the flip version).

Mom, who doesn’t have any dementia or neurological issues, still chugs along with her iPhone 6, although her actual computer/phone literacy isn’t too great.

You’ll want a phone w/ lots of battery life, plus several chargers. My mom tends to leave her phone in places like her purse or car or coat pocket and when it dies she can’t call and find it.

My aged MIL lost her flip-phone just that way. The next year we found it in the pocket of a winter coat she seldom wore.

Another issue to be aware of when selecting an elder-phone: How good is their hearing?

The absolute volume is not that high on most phones. And the audibility is very sensitive to holding the phone in just the right position to aim the speaker directly into your ear. Last of all, many hearing aids tend to go into feedback/ringing if there’s another object nearby.
As an example, my MIL again: If I silently hug Mom around the head her aid on that side starts squealing from the proximity of my head. So she’s sorta damned if she does and damned if she doesn’t. By the time she holds the phone speaker properly against her ear, her hearing aid is going berserk.

As her hearing has deteriorated she’s gotten her last phone. She’ll be deaf as a post before this one dies or gets lost.