Have you set up a falls pendant/ watch for elderly parent?

[Liz1tummypain]

I know that my mum has had 3 falls and her neighbour has agreed to be one of the points of contact. Also we've got a key to mum's flat in a key box in a shed near the door to her flat. However I haven't done anything more about it. I heard she has now been diagnosed with dementia, which is not a surprise and now I realise that I must get a fall pendant or watch sorted.

Can you please give me any advice, tips, any info at all?

Thanks in advance

There are lots of companies online.
Or contact your local adult services and ask for their advice.
When my mum fell she got a free month I think with a specific company linked to the hospital.

You can choose things like the alarm automatically alerts when it senses a fall rather than relying on the person to press the alert themselves.

We also had to get the Internet installed as the 4g was rubbish where my mother lives.

Depending on if your mother wanders or is likely to go a big distance from the house you can get different radius alarms too.

I got given a load of leaflets from the occupational therapist in hospital after mums fall (she broke her hip). As the PP says, have a look to see if there are any local council run schemes - these can be handy if you don't have many local contacts as I believe they can often send their own staff out to check on any alarms. Unfortunately in my case the local scheme wasn't taking on any new customers so I ended up using this company
Personal Alarms for Seniors - Approved by Which? | TakingCare

One thing to watch out for - sone of the cheaper options communicate via a hub, so if the person falls in a different room they may not be able to reach the hub to speak into it or hear what is being said. With my mums, the communication is actually through the pendant itself, and includes a fall detector.

you'll need to make sure that the key safe is easily accessible and that the company know the number, which they will pass on to emergency services if they feel it necessary.

Well, she has to wear the pendant or watch for it to be of any use! My MIL had one after having a stroke but usually it was on a table somewhere and not round her neck. So they're only of use if they're being worn.

@Titasaducksarse Thanks. Yes, hadn't thought about the internet. Do they all work that way? We got rid of the internet on her request years ago..

She can't leave the flat on her own. It would only be for if she loses her balance indoors.

Are you in Scotland?

@FortyFacedFuckers hiya, no in Hampshire

I got one for my parent a few months ago - i looked at quite a few, but in the end went for one affiliated with Age UK.. there are two types of pendants that come with it, one that is just a button, and you communicate with the call handler via a hub (you need to place it fairly centrally), bit as we went for the ‘premium’ version, we also got a pendant that allows you to be out and about, and you can speak to the call handler via the pendant, rather than a hub. These ones also have fall sensors on them, so it automatically alerts the call centre if the person falls while wearing the pendant (so handy if they might fall, and not be able to press the button). It was approx £300 per year, from memory, I think that included the one-off set-up cost, so will be quite a bit cheaper next year. They also seemed really helpful (when you test the button / call mechanism), and were able to reassure my parent that they could also use the button if they were worried about anything (eg someone suspicious coming to the door etc). I’ll try and find which one it is.

It’s the ‘Taking Care Anywhere’ pendant alarm, from Age Co (owned by Age UK). It’s working well so far :)

My parent is a wheelchair user and doesn’t go out on their own, so we didn’t need it for falls, but wanted the ability for them to speak to the call handler via the pendant, rather than the hub.

https://www.hants.gov.uk/socialcareandhealth/adultsocialcare/caretechnology

You can get a SOS watch / smoke detector / falls alarm from this link!

Thanks, yes I was given glowing reviews about the company " argenti" from that link by a woman who was caring for my mum after she came out of hospital in January. Sadly the website isn't working and has been like that for several weeks. Guess I should send them an email. Many thanks

Thanks for this. I know I'm a complete dinosaur- do they all need internet? if not, how does the hub work please?

Yes, maybe Hants are changing provider or something. Ring the council they will help you!

I think the hub part of it needs wifi / internet, not sure about the larger pendant (that you can speak through to the call handler)? As that works when out and about, so maybe has its own connectivity? Not sure though, you would need to check on the website.

Although I think some may use the phone line? Not sure though, I’m afraid you’ll need to check.

@Stoufer ok thanks for your replies. I can see I'm going to need to draft my hubby into exploring it all. Many thanks

They'll usually work via multi-network mobile signals, but from what @Titasaducksarse says in their particular case the mobile signal strength was poor. When I first set mum's up you have to walk round the house and garden checking the signal strength in each place to make sure it all works ok in each different location.

From what I recall during the set up, I don't believe the pendant hub is linked to the internet at all - ideally you need something that woudl work during a power cut.

I say this because I've seen many fail but if your mum has dementia would she even remember to put it on and how to use it?

Re Internet, if your mum gets pension credits, the guaranteed element you can get really cheap phone and Internet via BT. As my mum had phone line anyway adding Internet was literally just a few quid a week. It's also really handy having the Internet for when we visit or if I want to work there the day whilst visiting.

The one DH had was provided via the council and we paid a reasonable monthly amount. We chose the best option which sends a falls team to your home, you don’t need family or friends to be available

@Stoufer
pretty sure this is the one we have for my 93 year old mum. She was determined she didn’t want a ‘string’ or ‘lanyard’ pendant - it had to actually look like a necklace, which is why we went with this company. Ironically she won’t wear the darned thing in bed ( the one time they all need to,,,) as she’s worried the chain will strangle her! Despite me reassuring her they must have tested them for safety !
thankfully it has never ‘triggered’ but we”re happy with it, they are responsive & the gps is definitely a good thing as she still gets out & about on her own.

Yup had this with my gran!
'But it's on the table in living room, I know where it is'
'Yes but what if tou fall.....?'
'Well I know it's on the table-

She has since died and we laugh about it now but God there was no getting through to her logic.

This! People with dementia are hardly likely to remember to wear it, and even if they do, they’ll very likely forget what it’s for. Even more likely, they’ll will hide it away somewhere, where you’ll never find it.
Can you tell that I’m speaking from experience? 🙁