Wearable panic device for elderly. Do these work?

February 26, 2022 10:44 PM

My father is in his eighties. Sometimes he is alone for days at a time. Suggested solution is a wearable wrist panic device that detects falls and contacts a call centre in case of emergency.

I don't know which of the available options is the one my family is suggesting. We're in Cape Town.
Assuming my father is willing to wear such a thing, does this kind of tech work? What are the potential problems? Anything I need to consider when choosing between options? My father will very likely reluctantly agree to wear something like this but I think it will only work if it's utterly minimal effort from his side.
I'm working on ensuring that he isn't alone for so long but that's going to take some time .

posted by Zumbador to Technology (10 answers total)

Response by poster: Oh just found out what device is being suggested: https://telecare.co.za/
posted by Zumbador at 11:05 PM on February 26, 2022

My dad had one similar to what you linked. It worked through a device attached to his phone line. He had a button on his wrist, one in the bathroom, and one near his bed. His only worked in his house within proximity to the base unit, and only when he pushed the button - it did not monitor falls, but could have.

If he pushes the button, the company would come on over the device to ask if he needed help, while someone simultaneously called the numbers (in priority order) we provided. We had a remote camera that we could use to see what was going on - once he had fallen near the bathroom; my sister was able to see that he was okay and get to him within ten minutes.

Dad was only alone during the night when he slept. It worked well for us. My mom, when she was alive, it would never have worked. She will have consistently taken the thing off, or pushed it unnecessarily, or have forgotten why she had it and been mad about it when we told her. But by that point she was never alone.
posted by dpx.mfx at 11:30 PM on February 26, 2022 [5 favorites]

My dad had one, and used it a couple times (which was enough to make it worthwhile).

But your dad has to accept it, understand how to use it, and take it seriously. It doesn't do any good if it's forgotten in a drawer somewhere.
posted by zompist at 12:13 AM on February 27, 2022 [6 favorites]

Also check out the Apple Watch, which does all these things well, and the modern ones can link to your iPhone if he doesn't have one himself.
posted by tillsbury at 1:44 AM on February 27, 2022 [11 favorites]

There are many different options, depending on your geographical area? Some can be configured as a part of home alarm system. Some can be added to a phone line, and mainly acts as a wearable panic button that can summon help. Some can detect falls automatically without user intervention. Some can be included in smartphone or smartwatch. Which one is your father likely to accept?
posted by kschang at 2:00 AM on February 27, 2022

I don't have experience with the traditional panic devices, but the Apple Watch does have a robust "hard fall" detection feature that will call 911 and/or a designated contact. Also, it can be paired with the phone and there are apps that you can use to "check in" with a parent.

My mom had a two or three week period after a stroke where she was very disoriented and a fall risk, I set up the Apple Watch for her (which detects "hard falls" and will call 911 and/or a designated contact).

Here are the issues as I saw them:

1. Not wearing it at nighttime. Falling at night due to disorientation is a high possibility and it's also the time when other people are less likely to notice the fall due, you know, being asleep.
2. Keeping it charged. Depending on which model you get and other factors, the max charge is 18 hours, but typically less. So you'll need to consider if your father is capable of remembering to charge it, and then remembering to put it on.

My mother was fine wearing the Watch while sleeping, but needed someone in the morning to remind her to charge it (or if it was charged, to put it back on).
posted by jeremias at 4:28 AM on February 27, 2022 [5 favorites]

A friend has one of these. Last week she awoke to the fire department at her door. Apparently she had accidentally pressed the panic button on her pendant in her sleep.
posted by schrodycat at 5:48 AM on February 27, 2022 [2 favorites]

My grandmother has this one and we liked it because there are no monthly fees. We're in the US, but I think something like this would work in other countries -- it's a wearable panic button that activates a component that attaches to her landline, which calls four different numbers that you select yourself. If the first number doesn't pick up, it dials the second number and so on. So we have it set to call my nearby aunt's cell, my uncle's cell, their landline, and then 911 for emergency service.

We did have two false alarms when she bumped the panic button by mistake, but that was pretty early on. She woke up to firemen at the door. Wearing a lanyard all the time takes a little getting used to.

But it's proved to be incredibly valuable. Granny had a stroke back in 2019 and my aunt was able to get to her in minutes, and Granny made a full recovery. Having this button has brought all of us a lot of peace of mind and she's been able to live as independently as possible, which is really important to her.

She turns 107 next month.
posted by mochapickle at 6:17 AM on February 27, 2022 [21 favorites]

Mom wanted a panic button but had trouble sticking to a charging routine for the device. So she was charging it on her bedside table when she fell getting out of bed and then couldn’t reach the lanyard. She wasn’t seriously hurt but it was 14 hours on the floor before a friend found her.

If I were doing it over again, I’d check battery life (hers were shockingly short) and if possible, have two devices - one to wear while the other charges.

The hurdle of learning new tech and being able to do the routine care of the device can be big sticking points.
posted by jenquat at 8:03 AM on February 27, 2022 [7 favorites]

My father wore one (pendant style) in his last five years of living independently. Here's how it worked: 1) He would fall, 2) the device would detect it and the call centre would speak to him through the base station. If he didn't respond or seemed hazy, they would call an ambulance. 3) With every fall, regardless of whether they called an ambulance, they called me. If I didn't answer, they worked their way down the call list until someone did.

The part where they called us turned out to be really important because neither my father nor my father's doctor were good at monitoring the effects of his medications, and it meant we could go to the doctor and say hey, he has fallen four times, we need to adjust things. (Dizziness from too-high-blood pressure medication is a frequent reason for falls.)

-- My father was a little reluctant in the beginning but quickly learned to like it / depend on it. He knew it was enabling him to live in the house longer, which was what he wanted.
-- His was waterproof (a thing you should ask about) and he wore it 24/7, even in the shower. That was important because otherwise he would have lost it or left it lying around unused.
-- He pushed the button accidentally a few times but that was no big deal.
-- I don't remember him having to keep the pendant thing charged, and all his other devices were always dead lol. I think the pendant had a long-lasting battery.
-- The company regularly tested the whole system, which was awesome.
-- Jenquat is right that usability can be a major sticking point for older people, for everything. Like, my dad eventually stopped using his cellphone, stopped using email. This device was incredibly user-friendly and there was no learning curve. I wasn't there when it was installed, but I was on the phone, and the tech/customer service guy was great. I was worried he'd be abrupt/impatient, but he was the opposite.
-- A big part of the value for us, actually, was the excellent customer service. The call centre people were really well trained. They knew my dad's name and they were kind and patient.

The advertising for these things promises peace of mind. And seriously, they deliver. It enabled my dad to live independently for WAY longer than he would've otherwise been able to. In the long period of my father's decline, it was the one thing that was 100% reliable and helpful and did exactly what it was supposed to. I would have happily paid 10x what they charged us.
posted by Susan PG at 9:45 AM on February 27, 2022 [10 favorites]