 You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
My grandad is 94 and is pretty much on deaths door. He's still functioning, but has various ailments including dementia. My nan is there as well but is also very old and although is capable of sorting herself out she can't manage my grandad as well. My mum goes round everyday to sort him out and, as well as my uncle and sister on various days (I don't live nearby). But my nana took ill the other day so my granddad was left to his own devices for a while. He can't use the phone to call out nowadays but can answer the phone and my mum was wondering if there was an alarm that can send a message or notify an app so she can then ring him to see what he needs?
I've seen a few but wondered if anyone could recommended anything? I know there are manned services as well but we though an app based system could be a good start?
Look at a company called Doro. They make specialist technological solutions for the elderly, particularly those with dementia. My FIL wore a Doro tracking watch for about 5 years before becoming incapacitate - he used to go wandering and it was one way we used to track him. They also do personal alarms, intercoms and phones where you can set it up to auto phone a series of people once a trigger is pushed. Great stuff, can be expensive though.
My 91yo Mum had/has a Doro (the clamshell version). Terrible phone, but the emergency button saved her life when has a fall outside in winter (hanging washing out - that generation...). When she moved near me we got on the local authority Care Call system with a local care company as responders if I wasn't available. Sadly she had a bad stroke 5 weeks ago and didn't press the button so was undiscovered for a few hours. They are both good systems but the user needs to be able to use them and that only comes with practice, practice, practice.
There's also a band called a Buddi that links to a mobile using Bluetooth. It does fall alerts, you can buzz it from an app, and they can activate the wrist band manually. My mum has one and it works well (if she decides to wear it anyway).Â
Cool thanks. I'll look into those as well. I've seen some on amazon where they have a a button that they wear on a lanyard that connects to wifi, and when its pressed it sends an alert to an app on one or more mobiles. think some have fall alert, but they get very mixed reviews....
We got a local care system which also was linked in with smoke alarms.
It included a body mounted panic button. With dementia I'd highly recommend getting the smoke alarms built in.Â
We had two genuine activations because of this. Starting to cook something and forgetting. This was towards the end of his independent life but so glad we had it in place.
Â
My mum has one and it works well (if she decides to wear it anyway).Â
This is the massive fail with all of these lanyards / apps etc. It relies on the user wearing it and so many times they'll see it as some form of independence or a subtle "I'm still in charge!" snub NOT to wear it.
I bought a Tile tracker device for my Mum after yet another day where she'd lost her purse and it took both of us about 3hrs looking for it. Set it all up for her, put the Tile in her purse.
Next thing - she's lost her purse. I said to use the Tile tracker. "Oh, I took it out, I never used it".
🙄🤬
I'd say the apps and lanyards, wrist bands etc are all useful. So long as the person will wear /use them. The services that go to a call centre are better as they can usually get someone to go around whether it's their own staff, or workers from a care provider, a family member, a good neighbour or emergency services. Often there is no one able to respond quickly. Sounds to me like you need some form of intervention whether it's care at home or another option I couldn't say. If you haven't started the process I would say start it nowÂ
I cane along to say Buddi, but like everyone else has said - it is only useful if you can guarantee the person wears it. My mum has one and it has helped a couple of times, but more often than not it is on the side in the kitchen.
Yeah, we know we he needs more assistance now, so my mum is talking to people about it. She's there everyday for cleaning washing and things and my nana is ok with cooking and basic stuff, but can't manage other things. He's had a few falls but his dementia isn't the big thing at the moment although it is getting progressively worse, he has prostate cancer which has spread to his liver, but he's just getting older and weaker all the time. Its rubbish.