A harm-reduction approach to phones in dementia
For a person living with dementia, a smartphone is a lifeline—but not without risk.
Smartphones can be both helpful and challenging for people living with dementia. They may support connection, independence, and enjoyment, but can also contribute to distress, confusion, and vulnerability to scams.
This website provides practical guidance for caregivers and clinicians on managing smartphone-related challenges using a harm-reduction approach—preserving the benefits of technology while reducing the risks.
Little has been written about this, in research or elsewhere, so the suggestions that follow are a starting point rather than a definitive guide.
For general information only — not medical advice. Please consult a qualified health professional about any changes to care.
The approach
A simple framework: Keep, Shape, Protect
A phone does many things at once—some helpful, some harmful. So let's Keep what helps, Shape what confuses and overwhelms, and Protect against what can cause harm.
Keep
Protect what genuinely helps — calls with family, familiar music, photos, and reminders for meals and medications.
Shape
Ease the parts that confuse or overwhelm — late-night use, a cluttered screen, long message threads — with small changes to settings.
Protect
Watch for what can cause real harm — scams, lost sleep, increased distress — and add simple safeguards.
Guiding families
How to guide a family toward small, shared adjustments, and where to send them for the practical steps.
Guidance for the visit For families & caregiversSteps to try at home
Practical steps for talking, simplifying the phone, improving sleep, and staying safe from scams.
Practical stepsFor clinicians
Guiding families toward small, shared adjustments
When a phone is causing problems, families of people with dementia may feel they have no choice but to take it away. In a short appointment, you can help the family move toward a harm-reduction approach—one that lets the person continue enjoying the benefits of the phone while being less exposed to its downsides.
Guiding the family in the visit
Guiding the family in the visit
Suggest a different approach
- Acknowledge what the phone does. It may be a key way to stay in touch with family, a source of comfort, or a way to stay oriented. If it is removed abruptly, that can cause more distress, not less.
- Suggest adjusting the phone — keeping what helps and limiting what doesn't.
What to coach families to try
- Making changes with the person where possible.
- Pointing the family to the at-home steps below.
One way to open the conversation
"The phone clearly matters to her — it's how she stays in touch with people and stays calm. We can keep the parts that help and adjust the parts that don't. Here is a place to start."
Send families hereThe at-home steps on this site
The at-home steps on this site
The caregiver section covers the same approach — talking, simplifying the phone, improving sleep, and guarding against scams.
Refer & connectAlzheimer Society First Link
Alzheimer Society First Link
A referral pathway that connects patients and families to local education, support, and counselling across Canada.
Evidence
What the research is saying
What the research is saying
Some recent papers on smartphone use in people living with dementia:
- Smartphone use and social activities among people with mild to moderate dementiaAmong 151 people with mild-to-moderate dementia, the ~29% who used a smartphone reported modestly more social activity — pointing to untapped potential to support connection.Tsuda S, et al. JMIR Aging. 2026.
- Smartphone-based detection of subtle memory decline in prodromal Alzheimer's diseaseFrequent self-administered smartphone memory tests detected subtle cognitive decline within 30 weeks in early Alzheimer's, tracking with years of in-person testing.Polk SE, et al. npj Digital Medicine. 2026.
- Prevention of dementia using mobile phone applications (PRODEMOS): a cost-utility analysisA health-economic analysis of a smartphone app for dementia prevention aimed at people aged 55–75 with lower socioeconomic status.Handels R, et al. J Prev Alzheimers Dis. 2026.
For families & caregivers
Practical steps
None of these are cures, but they can reduce the difficulties while keeping the benefits a phone provides. Use whichever fit the person's situation.
General tips
Approaches that help whatever phone the person uses — how you communicate, staying safe from scams, and support for you as a caregiver.
Keep · talk firstCommunicating without conflict
Communicating without conflict
Respectful, non-confrontational communication is the foundation for everything that follows. A calm, patient approach makes every other change easier and helps maintain trust.
Keep · supportSupport for caregivers
Support for caregivers
A phone can ease a caregiver's work but also add to it. Local programs across Canada offer guidance, counselling, and connection with other caregivers.
Protect · money & safety
Guarding against scams
Guarding against scams
Online scams are the hardest part of smartphone use in dementia. Even someone with only mild impairment can be drawn in — and may be certain the scam is real. AI now makes fake messages, voices, and online “friends” more convincing than ever, and this is the area where families most often need to step in.
Scams that target seniors
- Romance scams — a caring new online “friend” or partner who eventually asks for money.
- Investment & crypto scams — promises of large, low-risk returns, usually with urgency.
- Impersonation — a “bank,” government agency, grandchild, or tech-support agent.
What to watch for
- New secrecy about messages, calls, or money, or a contact they won't discuss.
- Requests for gift cards, e-transfers, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency.
- Being rushed to act immediately or told to keep it secret, or money unexpectedly leaving an account.
Guardrails to put in place
- Arrange power of attorney for property early, while the person can still take part — the single most important safeguard.
- Agree that any money decision is checked with a trusted family member first.
- Ask the bank about transaction alerts and lower limits.
- Cut down scam and nuisance calls with call screening (see the caregiver steps below).
Phone-specific tips
Setting up and adjusting the device itself. Choose the phone the person uses to see the steps that apply.
Protect · callsScreening and blocking calls
Screening and blocking calls
Silencing unknown callers and blocking specific numbers cuts down scam and nuisance calls, while calls from saved contacts still come through.
- iPhone: turn on Silence Unknown Callers (Settings → Apps → Phone), and block a number from the Recents list.
- Android: in the Phone app, open Settings → Blocked numbers and turn on Unknown; block a specific number from Call history.
- Because saved contacts still ring through, trusted family and the care team aren't blocked.
Shape · simplifyMake the phone easier to use
Make the phone easier to use
A crowded screen and frequent updates can be confusing and frustrating. A simpler layout keeps the device usable while clearing away what isn't needed.
- iPhone: Assistive Access turns the phone into a large, pared-down interface (Settings → Accessibility → Assistive Access).
- Android: try Samsung's Easy Mode (Settings → Display → Easy mode) or Pixel's Simple View (Settings → Accessibility); Action Blocks adds big one-tap buttons for calls and routines.
- Delete unneeded apps: phones usually come loaded with apps that are never used. Removing or hiding the ones the person doesn't need leaves fewer ways to get confused or lost.
- Either phone: keep a single home screen, leave only essential contacts, and make the text larger.
Shape · simpler devicesWhen a simpler phone might help
When a simpler phone might help
Sometimes the best change is switching to a simpler phone rather than adjusting the current one. There's no single "best" device, and familiarity often matters more than features — the phone closest to what someone already knows is usually the easiest. The phones named below are examples to illustrate each type, not endorsements of any particular product.
Shape · easier nightsReducing use at night
Reducing use at night
Screens late at night may interfere with sleep, and poor sleep can worsen daytime confusion and irritability. This link isn't well studied in dementia, but reducing phone use overnight is low-risk and reasonable to try.
- iPhone: set an overnight Downtime in Screen Time that still lets music and calls through.
- Android: use Digital Wellbeing's Bedtime mode and Focus mode to dim the screen and pause distracting apps overnight.
Keep · what helpsPreserve what helps
Preserve what helps
The goal is not to silence the phone. Calls with family, familiar music, photos, and reliable reminders support wellbeing, and are worth keeping as you change other things.
- Set up simple, reliable reminders for daily tasks.
- Keep an easy way to reach family in an emergency.
- Make favourite music and photos easy to find.
Get in touch
Feedback, resources, or your own experience
We'd welcome your thoughts — feedback on the site, a correction, a resource worth adding, or your own experience of smartphone use in dementia, whether as a caregiver, a clinician, or someone living with it.
We can't offer personal medical advice or comment on any individual's care — please raise those questions with your own healthcare team. If you or someone you're caring for is in crisis, contact your local emergency number or a crisis line.