My mom is getting up there in age (74) and lives alone after my dad passed away last year. She's already had one knee replacement and is looking into the other. She has had a few falls over the past several years but we've always had in home health care for my dad. She also has a dog that can sometime get in the way. I am looking for a medical alert system bracelet but there are a lot of options out there. I know she won't want to wear anything to bulky. Also, it appears these have a home base in the house. Is there any value to wearing it while away from the house? If not, how do you encourage it be put on as soon as they are back at the house? TIA

My mom is in almost the exact same situation. Honestly, I have not given much thought to this. (shame on me for that.) but I live just a couple of miles away and we are in close contact. She had a knee replacement last fall and she said she felt pretty comfortable being alone because of her Apple Watch. I do not have an Apple Watch so I really don't know how reliable that system is, but that may be something to consider.

Cannot speak to how well they work but I work in EMS and suggest to have a way for personnel to access home(key hidden/garage door code) so they do not have to use forcible entry that can cause damage to door frame.

Apple Watch is what my mom in her late 60s wears for some peace of mind. She can call, it has fall detection, etc.

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Apple Watch is what my mom in her late 60s wears for some peace of mind. She can call, it has fall detection, etc.

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Unfortunately, my dad gave my mom a Rolex a few years prior to his death. Therefore, that's her daily watch.

We used this outfit like 5 years ago for my now 80yo mom who lives alone...

https://www.bayalarmmedical.com/

It had a watch, that I am pretty sure she could use outside the home. She never wears it though. We mounted the panic buttons near fall zones in the bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom. Thankfully, hadn't had to see it in real-action...a couple false positives (forgot why) seemed to get a quick response though.

We tried something else that my MIL would never wear so have resorted to the Apple Watch. She is 80 and just finished breast cancer treatment. Lives alone and is stubbornly independent.

My older sister has broken both hips due to falls in the past year. I gave her a smart watch.

She spent 9 hours on the floor after the last fall, then thought about her Alexa and used that to call me. Her doctor recommends Alexas to his fall prone patients.

I help several elderly neighbors, some have the life Alert stuff. The frequently call for help after minor bumps.

Bought my 11 yo son an Apple Watch at the same time I did my 76 yo mom. If she can figure it out anyone can. She had fallen once this year and able to get back inside but is about to go through hip replacement. I live close by and just told her she needed a way to call someone if she fell and couldn't get back up. It's a huge relief for me. I really dread the day I have to go and find my mom not alive at her house.

I never even thought about Alexa! That's a great idea for in the house.

We have google home in my 90yo mother's assisted living apartment. She never remembers it. You have to get them to use it in normal situations not just emergencies. Work on getting them to use it to call you routinely. With alexa you can change the activation word which can help. I have a contact in her account that is named help. This calls my cloud pbx that rings a group of all the kids. Also have all her Doctors by name and specialty in the contacts. This is more for nursing staff they can just hay google call cardiologist or whatever. With her we put in multiple wyze cameras and i have found her on the floor and was able to talk to her through the camera and send help.
My inlaws have cordless phones in chargers in most rooms including bathrooms and have called other person and 911 after falls. Crawling to phone that is in reach not on a counter has worked for them.
Every fall detector has been a fail for us, fail detect, false detect or on charger when happens because you have to charge watch way to often.
Also have airtag in her purse. Able to help resolve she is not on the cameras and not expecting her to be out.