Recs for Medical Alert Device for Elderly Person

[elbenn]

My mom is almost 80 years old and lives by herself in a house and I am thinking it would be a good idea for her to have some sort of medical alert device. I have seen commercials for these devices but haven't researched anything. Does anyone have any recommendations for a device?

[LD92599]

Highly recommend Phillips Lifeline. We've had it for 15+ years and it always works when we need it to (which is often, unfortunately!). My mom has the pendant option; there are other options too but this works best for her. Nothing to be charged, etc.

[chlobo]

We have Lifeline as well. I have to say we haven't always been pleased. Several times when the device has gone off, they have called me instead of calling 911. I'm not sure if somehow my mom set it up that way? My mom also has some trouble with it. It sometimes goes offline and then again, they end up calling me to get it back online, instead of calling my mom. I'm not sure why there is a disconnect there as I don't live with my mom so if its offline, there really isn't anything I can do, other than call her, which is what they should be doing. Partly, the device can only work as well as the people who are deploying it. So if you have a person who "can't do" technology, it might not be the best option.

ETA: there are different levels of service. If you are concerned that your mom might fall outside, then you need to get the service that has cell service so the device's range will reach that far. Just something else to consider.

[elbenn]

Someone told me that the Apple watch has a fall detector in their device. Maybe an Apple watch is the way to go. I am going to check into Lifeline and Apple watch.

[NCGrandma]

One thing to consider is whether the device itself will be acceptable to/used by your mom. At my CCRC, a number of residents have alert devices. These folks include people in independent living apartments who are at risk of falls, all the way to people with significant cognitive impairments who get lost easily. The system is managed by CCRC staff, who deal with the technical problems.

Most people have no trouble with them, but the weak link in the system are the residents who agree to wear a device but then find it annoying and put it in a drawer. There are both necklace style and wrist style devices but apparently some people can’t find one they can tolerate. It’s been hard to predict who will be resistant.


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[mom2binsd]

Find out what is available in her area, what she is willing to use, if she will be able to figure out of she has to charge it, and will she wear it?

A lot of my patients tell me they have used Life alert.

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[dogmom]

One thing to consider is whether the device itself will be acceptable to/used by your mom. At my CCRC, a number of residents have alert devices. These folks include people in independent living apartments who are at risk of falls, all the way to people with significant cognitive impairments who get lost easily. The system is managed by CCRC staff, who deal with the technical problems.

Most people have no trouble with them, but the weak link in the system are the residents who agree to wear a device but then find it annoying and put it in a drawer. There are both necklace style and wrist style devices but apparently some people can’t find one they can tolerate. It’s been hard to predict who will be resistant.


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Second that, although don’t give up the first time it goes into the drawer, it usual takes a couple of times. I think we got the Lively one because we wanted it to work off cellular so it would work if my MIL fell outside or was out of the house. You could also use it if you got lost somewhere since she seemed incapable of using the map function on her cell phone. She house the necklace which would also work as a fall detector. She was paranoid about hitting it by accident and then sending an ambulance, so we had to get her over that fear and demonstrate she could always tell them it was OK. She wound up wearing it under her top when she went out because she didn’t want people to see it.

She actually used it the house when she woke up short of breath, tried to call my husband on his cell phone (DH ans upstairs asleep at 3 am, I was out of town) and she couldn’t get words out. So my DH thought it was an accidental dial, so she hit the button I insisted to kept at her bedside at night to recharge. So they were on the devices telling her they were sending for the ambulance and calling us and that got my husband up.

After the almost dying because she couldn’t breathe she got really good about wearing it.

[ezcc]

My mom has a an Apple Watch, she got it because of the fall detection. I agree that something she will remember to wear is key.