I am looking into a medical alert system for my mother. Anyone have good advice on this?

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I am looking into a medical alert system for my mother. Anyone have good advice on this?

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If and when my mom comes home from rehab after breaking her hip I want her to wear a medical alert necklace. They are many companies out there and its confusing and expensive. We have no landline, only cell phones at this time. If needed I would get a landline. Thank you for all your help and advice.

Barbie

Family Caregiver Personal Alert Devices Product

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Life Alert is the best.

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The first question to ask is "will she use it?" Older people often do not take well to new things, particularly those that others want to impose on them. Even if they are willing to have a new device they may not use it as you expect. When my MIL was entering her late 80's I bought her a cell phone and taught her to use it, charge it, etc. I had programmed our phone number into the speed dial as well as her doctor's number. She was thrilled. We exchanged a number of phone calls in the first months to be sure that she remembered how to use it, but she tired of the "game" soon and decided she had mastered the phone. However, she carefully kept it in a padded box in a drawer in the table by her TV chair. I tried to explain that she needed to keep it in her pocket so she could reach it if she needed to call (we lived in a different state). No use. She remained very proud of that phone and I continued paying the monthly fees for the unused phone until she died. She never made a call after the initial calls we made in the learning process. So I spent $200 for the phone and another $1200 in fees for nothing but her pleasure in owning a piece of technology she was not particularly interested in. Similarly my sister's MIL had an alert necklace which she mostly kept in her bedside table. The night she fell and broke her hip she actually WAS wearing it, but forgot to use it. The housekeeper found her on the floor the next morning and called 911.

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For those with dementia putting a Jiobit on a shoe lace or belt loop keeps track of them even in a store or warns you if they go out wandering and pinpoints their location. It is a "man thing" to have a set of keys in a pocket so some fake ones and the Jiobit (like a key fob size) may make them feel better. (Parents use the Jiobit to keep track of their children or track pets).
They may not wear a neck button or press it all the time. Same with wristbands. If they are alone and can still use a cell phone, the free app SNUG is wonderful as if they do not get out of bed in the morning and tap the smiling face on their screen, you and a couple others get texts or calls that they have not "checked in" by the time you set it up for. It takes the responsibility off someone calling every morning to see if they are out of bed. It also sends out an alarm at a given time saying you have not checked in yet and have 10 minutes to do so. It will also call 911 if needed.

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A camera monitoring the door and part of the kitchen served the purpose for us as to whether or not mom was up. Getting her to wear a pendant would be a joke and she probably wouldn't understand what to do with it even if she would wear it. Same issue with "checking in" on the SNUG. Even in early dementia, my mother would take things out/off such as a flashing light YB set up to alert her if she didn't hear the doorbell or phone ring. She would also misplace the portable phone - no way would I invest in a cell phone for her! She even managed one time to turn the ringer off on the wall phone. Her neighbor was away (a few times I had her walk over to check on mom), so after almost 2 or 2.5 days of calling, I had the local PD check on her. The officer was smart enough to see the phone buttons with names and pushed mine, since I was the one to call. She asked me to hang up and call. That's how she figured out the ring had been turned off! What did mom have to say? Oh, that daughter of mine!

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Great Call is excellent. Some of the others have a base unit in the house and the thing worn around the neck - you are limited as to how far you can get from that base. Would be sketchy service if he went outside.

Great call (aka 5 star) can be purchased online or Walmart. Even AARP gives them a thumbs up. It has gps so you can look online to see where he is if he goes off with friends or wanders off. My mom puts it on the charger next to her bed each night. She has pushed the button twice accidently - I was amazed at how fast someone was talking to her from the pendant. You set up an acct online with the order of people to call in an emergency: that can be updated anytime you need to. All med info can be entered so they can relay it to an ambulance if necessary. I think I pay about 22-23 a month for the service. Absolutely no complaints

The only down side - if battery life ends, you have to buy a new one. No replacement batteries for it. I think ours have lasted about 3 years before replacing. Not bad.

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We used GreatCall for my dad and had a good experience. When he fell or otherwise pushed the button an operator quickly asked him who he wanted to be called, either 911 or one of his local children. He used it a number of times without problem

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I am looking into a medical alert system for my mother. Anyone have good advice on this?

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