Post and Telephone Safety
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Junk mail and phone calls
It's a good idea to stop junk mail and phone calls as far as possible, as there have been cases where unscrupulous companies have latched on to a vulnerable person who has access to payment methods, and have repeatedly taken money from them. Even innocent marketing mail and calls can be confusing and upsetting to someone with dementia.
In the UK, for post follow the advice on the Citizens Advice website, for 'junk mail'. Likewise, for phone calls follow the advice on the Citizens Advice website, for 'nuisance calls'.
For those outside the UK the above links will give you an idea of the methods to use.
Do note, however, that blocking all calls from withheld numbers can be undesirable if you share the phone with your loved one, as doctors etc usually withhold their numbers.
Fraudulent calls
In addition to reducing marketing 'cold calls' as above, consider a system or device to block fraudulent calls as far as possible.
Use unaided video or voice calls
It's worth considering whether everyone you'd want to call your loved one could use an unaided video or voice call system instead, which might also make it easier for your loved one to receive and make calls. In that case you could switch the landline telephone ringer off (but label it so a carer knows that's the case).
Telephone service's blocker
Your landline telephone service provider may have some systems (often at a cost) - for a summary of those in the UK see the Which? website, for 'how to block nuisance calls'.
Telephones that block
There are also landline telephones with some level of blocking functionality built in, although we don't know of any that are suitable for someone with dementia, and there are standalone devices that plug in before the telephone (see below). All of these require your telephone service to have Caller ID to get the full functionality, which is often an extra cost. (NB in the UK, a small proportion of Virgin Media customers receive a different format of Caller ID, in which case call blockers may require reconfiguring.) Note that you can't use a telephone service provider's 'answering machine' service with a call-blocking phone or device, as the device can't pass a vetted call back to the answering machine.
'trueCall Secure' nuisance call blocker
One of the standalone devices, the 'trueCall Secure' nuisance call blocker, is designed to be suitable for someone with dementia, as it doesn't require them to do anything different. It works on the basis that nuisance callers will quickly hang up and move on to another phone number when they find that they're being intercepted (and they won't know whether it's by the 'Secure' version for someone with dementia or the standard 'Call Blocker' version). Any calling number not on the list to be passed straight through (which you can set up with family, friends, doctor etc) will be played a message saying that cold callers should hang up, and asking them to press a particular number on their keypad (so it also avoids automated systems that won't respond and do that). Only if the caller stays on the line and presses the correct number does your loved one's phone start to ring.
There are a couple of other features of this device that are potentially useful. It has a repeating message if the phone is left off the hook. However, this continues indefinitely, and if the person can't understand what the message means, or what's not right in how they've tried to put it on the hook, then repeating it forever won't help and is likely to become very annoying or distressing. We've suggested to the manufacturer that there should be a limit to the number of times it repeats. Consider whether this might be a problem for your loved one, and test it out with them to see how they get on with it - if you live a long distance away and can't visit frequently, then as far as possible make changes at the start of a long visit.
The other useful feature of this device is that it can also block calls going out, for example to premium charge numbers.
For further information see the trueCall website.
(We don't receive any money for mentioning this device.)
Bank accounts
Also see our note on not having bank card or account numbers around that could be read out over the phone, and on getting an alert if a large amount is taken out of a bank account.