Does anyone have experience with the "LifeAlert" type systems? Dad's gotten to the point he is still able to live on his own, but his balance is suffering, and he's agreed to use one. In our initial research there are a number of a million different options to use, and different subscription plans. He did mention he'd prefer something along the lines of a watch or something along those lines. Not sure if Apple or Android has an option that could use the same thing. I'm not sure we would definitely need "emergency" response, or at least the ability to call me. The other thing we need to consider is he never carries his phone around him in the house, so bluetooth options might not work either.
Apple watch for sure has fall detection. Also consider getting a simple elastic band (the watch bands can be troublesome for older folks). Pretty sure you can set it up to notify you or EMS.
Sam’s mom uses an Apple Watch. Worked great when her meds were screwed up and she fell. Sent out texts and contacted ems. Life alert wouldn’t have helped in her case.
Interestingly and thanks for posting. My mother in law had life alert and I don’t think it was ever really used. Once she did fall down, and had to wait until her nurse arrived in the morning. With this knowledge from you guys, I will get an Apple Watch for my parents, when they get to this stage.
This. My MiL had a fall, called her kids and EMS. They got there before her son did who live 2 streets away
Can't speak for smart watches, but with communication functions, they sound like a good option. What I can comment on is for any personal duress system to work, it requires the person to wear something like a lanyard on their neck, wrist, or the like, and its a challenge I faced. Nothing like paying that fee only to see the device laying in the other room and nowhere near their hands should they have a fall. For two years, I was responsible for my grandmother and even as a resident of an assisted living facility, she wouldn't keep the duress transmitter on or nearby, so it was never with her if she needed it. Additionally, they tend not to wear them when showering and that's a high-risk behavior for folks in their condition. There was also some question on the efficacy of care from the facility when she would push the button (different issue) but point being is the effectiveness of tools are impacted by human behavior and compliance, which could also impact the effectiveness of the smart watch.
This is a big issue IMHO. We bought my mother a watch last year for christmas. She never wears it. Found out the issue was taking it on and off. Amazon for $10 got four different stretchy bands so she doesn't have to mess with a clasp or anything. Just slip it on and off. Waterproof so she can wear it in the shower if needed and charges quick enough (or overnight if needed). Pretty sure we just got the SE version as we didn't really need much else. lastly there are two main versions- GPS or GPS/Cellular. If he/she is close to the phone the GPS version is all you need. If you want it to be able to dial and get help independently of the phone, you can get the watch with a separate line so they don't have to have a phone nearby to make calls.
