Medical Alert Service

[GravitySucks]

I thinking of getting my mother a medical alert device. She's 84, lives with my sister who is only home 4 days a week, and is not so steady on her feet anymore.
I'm looking at Lively which is sold at a local pharmacy. It's a cellular unit that cost $50 and service starts at $19.99 a month.
Anyone have any experience with these things?

 

[socca]

Anyone have any experience with these things?

I don't have any experience with this particular product, but I can recommend this class of devices for those elderly who are unsteady but still more-or-less have it together cognitively. My grandmother had one during the last couple of years of her life (she lived to be 101). She never used it (on purpose), but it provided us with some assurance that she could get help quickly after a fall.

 

[meierlde]

Unfortunately Amazon has not enabled their Echo and Dot devices to call for help. These devices work so that you don't need to carry anything around, but can work with voices with a reasonable distance. Perhaps some monitoring company could work with Amazon to enable this. In particular the dot at $50 could be used in a couple of rooms in the house such as the bedroom and the kitchen etc. It seems that these devices could be used for more than a voice actuated music player.

 

[Katsmeow]

I don't, but I've looked at it briefly for my mom. She is 92 and lives alone. She has a cell phone which she is supposed to keep on her, but she tends to not do it.

When I looked online I found a lot of reviews of different options. They vary a lot in what they do. Some just monitor for the person initiating a call for help. Others have inactivity alerts (they want the person to press a button once every 24 hours to show they are OK). There are other options as well.

One issue is whether there is a contract involved or whether it is month to month.

Also, the range varies on different units. And, some have different charges based upon whether there is a landline or cellular.

Anyway, before buying a particular unit I would look around and look at reviews and check BBB.

 

[EastWest Gal]

After a couple of falls I got one for my dad. It was $30/mo. Other nice items with it was a key lock system attached to the porch railing that emergency personnel could use to get access inside, and also in the key lock chamber was instructions where to find my dad's medication list, which was in a red container magnetically attached to the refrigerator. It allowed me to go away for a day or two with less fear. I had him test it regularly so he would be comfortable using it and they could hear him quite well throughout the house. He wore it like a watch.

 

[travelover]

We have on of these for MIL. I think the single button push is key. She would flounder now with a cell phone - worse if she was having a stroke.

 

[cbo111]

We got service for DM a couple years ago with Bay Alarm Medical. She wears a lightweight fob and can even activate it in the backyard. They are easy to deal with. This gives us some peace of mind from across the country.
Chuck

 

[outdoorgirl02]

My mom's home security system has this built in to the keychain remote device (one button push). She keeps it in her pocket all day. Gives me peace of mind.

 

[GravitySucks]

Thanks for your input.
I'm going to go with the Lively as Mom likes to do light lawn work and this one works on a cellular network where she has good coverage. The landline based units might not work when she's outside.

 

[marko]

I waited awhile so as not to get this thread on a tangent.

Just wanted to share this story. Frequent readers here will remember my wealthy grandfather who was such a miser.

Living alone after a hip replacement, he got one of the "push the button for help" medical alerts.

Well. He fell down one day in his basement and couldn't get up; broke the other hip.

My mother got an urgent call from the telephone operator telling us that he was in trouble. I ran over and got him an ambulance etc and things eventually turned out ok.

So........ I asked him WHY on God's earth did he drag himself across the basement floor to yank down the phone on the wall to call his daughter when he could've just pushed the button.

Ready??

"Well, I knew she'd be home and...well....I also knew it was a long distance call to the next town (ahem! 14 cents) if I pushed the button...if your mom didn't answer I guess I'd push the button."

Well, his heirs are happy. And not worried about 'long distance calls'. Nope! Not one bit.