Help finding an item - wearable fall alarm that

[Topbird29]

Hoping the mumsnet hive can help. My MIL and FIL are both in their 80s, and she had to have a hip replaced a couple of years ago due to a fall. They have seen that apple do a watch / wearable on wrist thing that can flag of someone has fallen over. All of us have android phones rather than apple. Can anyone please advise if there is a similar thing that cab be linked to android. Thanks in advance.

Can't they just sign up to their local Council 'red button' scheme? That is probably the best their for their age. It's around £30 a month.

Alternatively if you want just something to call family, and you are techie, you can get Alexa to call you etc.

Depending on their council, it might even be free. It's definitely worth contacting the council in the first instance, some of them are now very good at providing Assistive Technology.

Careline via your local council, Minimal amount to pay. In my council you can opt for a service that sends a falls team rather than just notifying a relative. That’s far safer as ordinary untrained people should not be trying to lift people

Samsung galaxy and google pixel smart watches both have a hard fall detection, which can make a call to the number set up. Sure other Android smart watches will have it too.

Def contact local council or age uk

The local council offered us a falls alarm and a regular red button pendent alarm to choose from. Both about £25 a month each

They explained that many fall without the falls alarm even triggering so it’s basically a waste of time.

They recommended that red push emergency button pendant / wristband one instead.

The only potential issue with that is that the old person generally either ‘doesn’t want to be any bother” by pressing it in a fall, and lie there overnight unril the carers arrive bext morning, or forget they even have it.

Sigh.

We also got a key safe screwed to the wall outside in the event i was uncontactable to unlock the door and get in to help my parent up, so the carers could gain access.

You can only do what you can.

We removed all trip hazards like rugs and mats. Moved some furniture over so it’s a bit safer. Got physio to strengthen the legs and guidance on how to get up in the event of a fall.

My mum has a Your Stride watch with a built in alarm. We had some problems finding something suitable as she can’t have a pendant due to her pacemaker and she also has Parkinson’s so we needed a watch that wouldn’t be too sensitive to her tremors.

Mum just needs to press a button to get through to the 24/7 monitoring team who will then call us. They were incredibly helpful in setting it up to suit her needs and it’s reassuring for me and my siblings knowing mum can get help if anything happens.

She hasn’t quite grasped that they only phone one of us when she asks them to though. I’ve had a few messages from her telling me she’s fine, it was just a false alarm and I’ve had no clue what she’s on about!

Thanks all - will investigate all of these. They don't have Alexa, so that's not an option - and guess they also want something for when they are out of the house.

Contact your local council. I got one for free last year.