.. broken hip and hip replacement, she's wondering about a medical alert "thing".

She has a bigger cell phone, so that isn't something she is likely to carry at all times. When she fell in the kitchen getting ready for church, she didn't have it and had to slide herself over to the landline.


Men seem more likely to have one in a pocket, I've noticed MrsTuner is likely to set hers down and walk away..

Anyway, I'd be interested in any suggestions. I don't know whether she wants a fall sensor, or just something that can be used to call for help if needed.

Does she have an iPhone? My former neighbor's family bought her an Apple Watch with fall detection. It will automatically dial some number of pre-specified people to alert them if it detects a fall.

And she can make/receive calls from it and doesn't have to have the phone nearby. Mary likes hers despite the fact that it's a little hard for her to see because she has some pretty serious vision issues.

All in all, it's something I'd give serious consideration to.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208944

I also bought my mom an Apple Watch, which she connects to her iPhone.

There may be other non-Apple watches with fall detection as well.

Get something she wears around her neck. Something you carry is not reliable, and something on your wrist is more likely to be damaged in a fall. A device where all she has to do is push a button to summon help.

She has an Android phone.

Mom had a blind friend that wore something around her neck... even to bed.

Woke up one night with the police banging on her door because she rolled over on the button!

I don't know what the real world durability of an Apple Watch-type device is.

The push button also has shortcomings, unfortunately. If you lose consciousness and fall, you won't be able to push the button. Something that detects the fall and then prompts you to tell it you're OK seems to be preferable.

Good point. Do both.

As far as rolling over onto the button I suspect that is exceptionally rare and you can find a unit that prevents that.

We got my mom an Apple Watch specifically for fall detection. A friends sister was hit by a car while riding her bike and fall detection is what alerted the ambulance. You can also, of course, use it to send a message to a family member. So if my mom fell but was conscious and ok, not needing an ambulance, but did need help getting up she could text or call me or my dad even when she isn’t carrying her phone.

For what it’s worth she hasn’t used the fall detection BUT her watch detected a-fib on a couple occasions so she took the info to her doctor. He referred her to a specialist and it turns out she has a previously undetected leaky valve.

A survey of devices with fall detection from Tech Radar:

https://www.techradar.com/best...ll-detection-sensors

Samsung smartwatches have fall detection:

https://www.samsung.com/us/sup.../answer/ANS00087244/

My Apple Watch has a fall detection feature which I find reassuring though imperfect. It misses some falls, while going off from such slight stimuli as merely fluffing my pillows!

The new one (series 8) which my son got me recently to replace a previous model (its AFIB function didn't seem reliable) has another brand new perk we hadn't even known about until it went off.

That is, a "Crash detection" feature - it has already saved lives (one example they're publicizing, is its summoning help after a driver crashed into a tree rendering him unconscious). It called a police officer and emergency medical help in a minute or two (see other thread about my recent experience).

Not as common a risk as falling, but a nice safeguard. (It also has an oxygen detector, which reports your sleeping O2 levels if you have a sleep app and is checkable during the day at will, just as it can check if you have AFIB.)

I discontinued my Phillips Lifeline necklace, which my son had subscribed to for me (he is very unhappy). It was just too much of a nuisance because of false alarms as well as failing to detect certain kinds of falls. Besides which, the new model - very clunky - is way too sensitive. I had to take it off in the gym working any number of machines which risked bumping it. When I placed it instead in my purse, the faint shock (of my purse's being placed - gently - on the gym's floor or shelf), was enough to call the cops! (Worse, since it was in my purse, I often didn't hear the alert checking on my "fall" as it was muffled - so 911 was triggered.)

Haven't decided whether to rely on the Apple Watch or if not, what to replace the pendant with. (Have studied numerous online comparative rankings but nothing seems quite satisfactory. The one my son wants me to accept, requires TWO pendants to change depending on whether I'm in the house or leaving. Too complicated, that and charging requirements!).

And for the record, the pendants all have limits regarding what kinds of falls they detect - same with the watch. At least, one doesn't have to press a button for help - as pointed out, that's no good if you ARE unconscious.

This seems to have a good summary of features of various systems.

https://www.safehome.org/medical-alert-systems/best/

If nothing else it provides a list of features to consider when buying a medical alert device.

This is just tangential to the discussion, but after experiencing some leg pain issues, a neurologist sent me to physical therapy for strength and balance training.

Not that I perceived any real trouble with balance, but I know that can become an issue as we age, and I started feeling less sure-footed after my bike accident/hip replacement in 2020.

I think the exercises help. Simple leg lifts and "bridging" from a lying position, and then doing one-leg stands and walking a straight line like a DUI test. They're not easy! but you don't have to be perfect either. They had other balance accessories at the therapy center, but I don't have those at home.

I've always been active but not a regular "exerciser". I'm doing the exercises from Miriam Nelson's Strong Women, Strong Bones program. They're specifically for building bone strength, but there are some balance exercises that I think are equally important.

The video:

https://www.pbs.org/video/univ...-women-strong-bones/

Once you've watched the video, a cheat sheet so you don't have to waste time watching a video again!

https://extension.oregonstate....ndoutstrongwomen.pdf

I've also just started some of Miranda Esmond-White's stretching exercises. She is host of a program on PBS called Classical Stretch.

I have nothing to add here to the advice you've received other than I think it's a fantastic idea. My mom passed away in her apartment and we will never know if she could have survived had she used her "call button" or whatever the proper term is.

She refused to wear it. It was the kind you wear around your neck.

quote:

Originally posted by Nina:
I have nothing to add here to the advice you've received other than I think it's a fantastic idea. My mom passed away in her apartment and we will never know if she could have survived had she used her "call button" or whatever the proper term is.

She refused to wear it. It was the kind you wear around your neck.

I'm very sorry to hear this happened and that you have to go through the second guessing (not that she would have changed her mind).

Speaking as the person who (earlier in this thread) spoke of having cancelled her subscription to her neck-worn call button, may I intrude and ask what was the crisis that caused her demise?