Medical monitor with fall detection

[jsharr ★]

One of the few good outcomes of this long weekend was my parents agreeing to get life monitors with fall detection. There are a multitude of providers out there. Have any of you used one. I am looking towards Bay Alarm medical right now

[Longjohn ★]

Wouldn’t it be easier to just look at a calendar? Fall usually comes in around September 23 rd.

[maddmaxx ★]

You have to get up pretty early.

[petitepedal ★]

I think Lifeline is a common one. Several of my residents have them...they do  not prevent falls..but they do get you help sooner than without. Does their local hospital promote any particular device? Also get one with cellular based technology. Not something that needs a land line...you do not need a cell phone..but it provides the same service if you are at the store or across the street. Landline based services only work within a certain distance from the base unit.

Do you need a local responder/ or do they dispatch 911. Do they contact family as well?

[Parsnip Totin Jack ★]

Mom of Old#7 has a device around her neck to call for help. All residents must wear them. They do not detect falls, just call for help when the button is pressed. Mom isn’t doing well recently. Dementia is getting worse. She is asking where her Mother is. Calls me and asks when I am coming to pick her up so she can go home. I expect her to move up to Memory Care on the 3rd floor within six months. She won’t like that. My sisters want to move her to the memory care facility where my other sister lives. They asked Mom if she wanted to do that and said it went over like a fart in church. 

 

[Longjohn ★]

8 minutes ago, Old No. 7 said:

They asked Mom if she wanted to do that and said it went over like a fart in church.

  Ok the story got a sad face but the last line of the story deserved a haha face.

[Airehead]

We had MobileHelp for my mom.  I think one version had fall alert and one did not.  That wasnt a big need for us because she wasn't ever alone more than an hour or two but I think we got it anyway.

[Razors Edge ★]

The technology seems to be coming along - even incorporated into things like the Apple Watch or a Garmin bike computer and helmets - but the big piece is that the tech HAS TO BE IN USE when the fall occurs.  That's the huge "if" since most are readily removed and/or need to be kept charged. 

My mom has an alert system she can wear around her neck, but one time she was puttering in the yard in the evening, and fell in the yard - without her cell and without the necklace.  No good at all, but I think it drove home her need to have one or the other always with her.  Neither though was set up with automatic fall tech - she would be required to be conscious and able to activate the alarm or make a 911 call.

So, finding a better and SIMPLER device for my mom is a long-term (mid-term?) goal so that it includes fall alert, ease of use, long "on" life between charging, and high likelihood of being on her at ALL times.

[Kirby]

We looked into it after a relative had a bad fall while they were alone, but they still haven't purchased one.  Here's a Consumer Reports article comparing different systems

https://www.consumerreports.org/medical-alert-systems/how-to-choose-a-medical-alert-system/

[JerrySTL ★]

We got my mother one. She doesn't wear it. Also when she can find here cell phone, the battery is dead. I'm charging it now. 

[Razors Edge ★]

1 hour ago, JerrySTL said:

We got my mother one. She doesn't wear it. Also when she can find here cell phone, the battery is dead. I'm charging it now. 

This seems to be a real challenge - especially as folks suffer from various memory or mental challenges.  If I can't get my relatively independent functioning mom to wear, charge, and use when needed, what chance do I have when she is less independent?  Again, the tech and battery life will continue to improve, but it remains a challenge. 

If my mom was nearer, it could be as "easy" as it being my or another person's responsibility to make sure the devices are charged and being used each day, but that requires me or another person being involved. 

[Airehead]

We had the aide charge it while they were there For my MIL which only helps if your parents consent to help.  My mother in law could not remember anything, not even my name. She remembered the aide was 32 an hour. Foolish waste of money, that woman ( me) is a swindler.  Einstein finally just told her that her insurance paid for it. 100 times a day, he told her. At least that woman was no longer a swindler. 

[Scrapr ★]

10 hours ago, Old No. 7 said:

Mom of Old#7 has a device around her neck to call for help. All residents must wear them. They do not detect falls, just call for help when the button is pressed. Mom isn’t doing well recently. Dementia is getting worse. She is asking where her Mother is. Calls me and asks when I am coming to pick her up so she can go home. I expect her to move up to Memory Care on the 3rd floor within six months. She won’t like that. My sisters want to move her to the memory care facility where my other sister lives. They asked Mom if she wanted to do that and said it went over like a fart in church. 

 

I would highly suggest a memory care close to one of the kids. When Mom & Dad went to AL/SNF/MC we moved them close to my brother & SIL. Instead of 40 minutes it was 10 minutes. Brother & SIL went to lunch & dinner at the MC. I think they got better care by staff since they were in there all the time. Brother & SIL put their lives on hold for 2 years caring for Mom & dad. One husband spent all day every day with his wife in MC. Except for a few errands here & there

[Parsnip Totin Jack ★]

32 minutes ago, Scrapr said:

I would highly suggest a memory care close to one of the kids. When Mom & Dad went to AL/SNF/MC we moved them close to my brother & SIL. Instead of 40 minutes it was 10 minutes. Brother & SIL went to lunch & dinner at the MC. I think they got better care by staff since they were in there all the time. Brother & SIL put their lives on hold for 2 years caring for Mom & dad. One husband spent all day every day with his wife in MC. Except for a few errands here & there

Mom lives close to most of us. Right now, she is less than 4 miles from me, and under 20 for two of three sisters. The third sister lives in a MC about 10 miles away (alcohol issues). The idea is to move Mom over there. It’s a change of location without the stigma of “moving upstairs”. Mom isn’t keen on having her daughter for a “roommate”. They’d have their own rooms, but be in the same wing.