My mum is 90 years old and has a history of falling. Currently she is in hospital after a fall at home in the shower where she lay for some hours until a neighbour held her calls for help. She seems OK, subject to a further medical assessment later today. We want to get a passive monitoring device. Her house already has a burglar alarm which she manages well and she has personal emergency device that she can press to call a local manned emergency service. However she tends not to keep the emergency button on her person hence her lying after the fall. She has a landline but no internet, nor a smartphone. She has no other need for either but if they are the only options we will sort that.
I have suggested we get a passive monitoring device that detects lack of activity. However I can only find sensors that you have to actively access to tell when a person is out of bed, or entered a room but nothing simple that alerts you when someone is not up and about because (for example) the kettle has not been used, or the fridge door opened, within expected parameters. A company called 3rings used to sell a socket adapters you could program to do that. However all their links are old or trigger “insecure” warnings and I suspect they are no longer in business.
We want to keep it simple and not add to her “hands on” involvement with technology nor do we want her to feel we are watching her every move hence we want something that’s passive and only alerts when a routine activity is missed. She is very happy with the existing emergency help desk so we’d prefer not to move her off that but they don’t offer a passive option.
Any suggestions on devices or lines of inquiry would be welcome please.
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Based on personal experience, you may find it worth reading the whole thread, although I have linked below to one specific episode.
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?t=29134&m=632166&v=e
may reply at greater length later.
A solution may depend on what technology she has available? Wifi and your personal tech expertise?
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Sherlock thanks for this. I have read it and the problems are very familiar to me. Unfortunately so are the limited solutions. We already have a key box and the idea in that thread of adding a mobile number is good.p, we’ll do that. When my mother fell the neighbour couldn’t find my brother’s number (he is local, I am hundreds of miles away). As for how secure they are the Fire Brigade couldn’t smash it this week but maybe they were trying to keep the noise down. They bust the door lock instead.
Mum is in pretty good good control of her faculties but she is not good with hands on tech. Hence it’s a passive, non intrusive solution that flags by exemption, that we are looking for.
She doesn’t have Wi-Fi but we could sort that out for the right solution even though she wouldn’t use it for anything else. Tech expertise is hopefully not a problem as my brother is a time-served telecom customer systems engineer and installed the existing alarm. He is just not up to date with specific things we could use here.
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First thought is that internet would give you a lot more options. Maybe the neighbour wouldn't mind her piggybacking on theirs for this purpose if you could come up with a passive method?
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The neighbour might be willing to help out but we’d probably go it alone for peace of mind. A few quid in tech and internet is peanuts compared to care costs. But at the moment she is determined to stay put.
Last edited by: martin aston on Tue 4 Oct 22 at 11:27
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We have had passive monitoring for several years.
It was as you wanted. Fridge, kettle, microwave, bedroom, movement sensors and front rear door sensor
It was a research project from a university and the Alzheimer's society and linked via normal computer links.
It started with trying to alert if normal activity stopped plus various health checks.
It was linked to a local monitoring group.
Unfortunately I had to call a halt when SWMBO became immobile.
Several years ago we could also have a watch with two way voice communication and GPS tracking
www.elmbridge.gov.uk/css/community-alarm-and-telecare/
see pathfinder.
In error one was taken to South Africa and worked well there.
Our local support is really good for many aspects of us oldies.
More similar devices are available now.
Search for "watch gps tracker for elderly "
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I had a similar problem with my MiL when she had a fall and couldn't reach her alarm pendant (it was on a table). Made her realise its importance and she always wore it after that.
She sometimes operated it accidently after that, but the monitoring staff were very forgiving.
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Mil had a pendant. We had the opposite problem to Tubby Tom. She would insist on wearing it in bed. I can't tell you the number of times we, as first responders, had to get up and check her at 3am when she rolled over in bed and set it off !
Fortunately, she lived next door so it was only a 30ft dash to find her gently snoring away !
She left us in 2009, thankfully in her sleep in a very local rest home. I think the worst experience of those final years was when her visit to the downstairs toilet left me armed with rubber gloves, mop and bucket and a smelly cigar removing the carpet, getting it into a bin liner and deep cleaning the whole place while swm sorted her clothing out and washed her. Bless her.... all done with love !
Ted
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I can relate to all of that Ted. Total role reversal and complete loss of dignity.
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Thanks Henry. She it now looks as if she is going to be housebound but mobile indoors with walking aids so a tracker won’t be needed. I still have some feelers out on the sort of passive monitoring that you describe. I suspect the previous bespoke solutions will now have fallen by the wayside to be replaced by cheaper but simpler apps.
She already has an emergency wrist strap she just won’t keep wearing it for fear of false alarms. Words will be had as the monitoring service will be well used to such innocent user errors.
We are seeking an Occupational Therapy assessment, hopefully before she is discharged and that may come up with something.
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Elderly neighbour had the red button alarm round his neck.
Didn't like that so left it on the table.
Fell in the garden and lay for ages until discovered.
MiL was 96+ when she died - equally useless alarm on the wrist which she did not wear - fell and carted off to hospital - carers in after that as my wife was working 40+ hours as well as looking after me on Chemo - she lasted another 2 years..
What about a webcams in the livingroom / kitchen / hall?
Blinks are cheap £34 for 2 and work well. I know you would not want to be intrusive but you can use the cameras to act as a phone as well should you need to speak.
BB on top of existing landline should be a minimal cost
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On my Home Assistant I have some movement sensors which message me when something moves, and turns off lights when nothing moves for a while (but it could be a message) (as well as doing other stuff like turning lights on and off). But it'd be overkill probably for what you want.
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Passive monitoring of elderly mum - sherlock47
