Emergency/Fall alarm for auld people

Got all this with my dad:
- Telecare is the service they need, my dad doesn’t wear the pendant, watch or anything else they’ve tried to give him. He uses it if he drops his TV remote and stuff now
- An Alexa with my number programmed so he could say “Alexa, call *****” was effective when my dad was having regular falls
- Contact Sunderland Care and Support and they’ll do an assessment of what they need (handles, wet rooms etc.) and will fund alterations depending on circumstances
- Age UK for general advice
 


macum1920 said:
My Mam (passed last month) was falling a lot in her last few months, we (County Durham) had care connect which I’m sure was a Council service, only a few quid a week and peace of mind if no one was with her
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my mam and the father in law used this. it was an excellent system when (unfortunately) needed. couldn't fault it.
 
Wearside Wanderer II said:
Me mam & dad are now having regular falls at home, being stubborn buggers they are refusing everything we have come up for too help.
Has anyone any experience in fall alarms on the wrist or pendants that they would recommend, just needing something which would call me or me sister at the press of a button?
Cheers
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me mam has the one through Sunderland Council. It is such a security blanket for me.
Mind, she was wearing it in bed one night, rolled over and pressed it, without realising it, and next thing, there were 2 people in her bedroom in the middle of the night asking if she was ok 😂. She no longer wears it in bed 😄
It proved it works though.
 
macum1920 said:
My Mam (passed last month) was falling a lot in her last few months, we (County Durham) had care connect which I’m sure was a Council service, only a few quid a week and peace of mind if no one was with her
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Had that with my dad. It is a council-operated service and they were absolutely clear that it was not going to alert me as the first point of contact. Instead, any alert went to their operator who responded accordingly. The logic was that there's not much I can do if I get a ping at 3am, and if it's a medical emergency I'm not qualified to do anything useful anyway.

When he did use it to contact them, they had someone go round to him and see what was happening. Then, after sorting out the immediate issue they called me (just as I was getting my daughter ready for her first day back at school in September) to let me know and ask if I'd be able to call in and keep an eye while they liaised with a different care team to get someone coming in 2-3 times a day. Very efficient, very helpful and reassuring for both of us. I'd start by approaching your local social services / community care team and seeing what's available - it will vary from council to council, but I'd assume some kind of service is a mandatory requirement.
 
janey said:
me mam has the one through Sunderland Council. It is such a security blanket for me.
Mind, she was wearing it in bed one night, rolled over and pressed it, without realising it, and next thing, there were 2 people in her bedroom in the middle of the night asking if she was ok 😂. She no longer wears it in bed 😄
It proved it works though.
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My dad had broke his shoulder about 8 months ago. He kept falling out of bed so I made him wear his pendant. I got a call of Telecare to say they called me as they couldn’t find it.

I went in and searched for ages and found it wound round his neck and he was pressing it with his shoulder.

They must hate him though, he presses it if he can’t find his TV remote.
 
Kenna said:
Don't know what it's like in the NE, but I seen a show not long ago about The Ambulance Service and they don't class the alarm as important and it can take hours for them to respond to it, they responded to one on this show and it was an old woman who'd been lay in the street for 8 hours overnight after pressing the alarm.
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They usually go to a call centre who then contact a designated person, usually a family member but emergency services if necessary. I’d ask social services to do a care act assessment and that would probably identify telecare as an option. Usually fixed costs for them.
Only problem is waiting lists could be substantial.
 
Goat Eyes said:
My dad had broke his shoulder about 8 months ago. He kept falling out of bed so I made him wear his pendant. I got a call of Telecare to say they called me as they couldn’t find it.

I went in and searched for ages and found it wound round his neck and he was pressing it with his shoulder.

They must hate him though, he presses it if he can’t find his TV remote.
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When he couldn’t find his remote 😀 fair play he pays for a service.
I call her pendant “her medal” 😀
Take it off when I’m taking her to the shops or hairdressers or to get her nails done, it goes straight back on when we get back.
Me mam is mortified if she presses it accidentally, I’m just like, so what, it proves it works.
 
janey said:
When he couldn’t find his remote 😀 fair play he pays for a service.
I call her pendant “her medal” 😀
Take it off when I’m taking her to the shops or hairdressers or to get her nails done, it goes straight back on when we get back.
Me mam is mortified if she presses it accidentally, I’m just like, so what, it proves it works.
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They don’t mind and it is a great service, my dad is bed bound now and doesn’t wear it but it’s close by. They never contact me to complain about anything, unlike his care company. TBF though, he has become incredibly racist towards his carers. 🙈

I just wish they had a third party app so we could monitor stuff.
 
Goat Eyes said:
They don’t mind and it is a great service, my dad is bed bound now and doesn’t wear it but it’s close by. They never contact me to complain about anything, unlike his care company. TBF though, he has become incredibly racist towards his carers. 🙈

I just wish they had a third party app so we could monitor stuff.
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It is a fab service, it’s such a comfort to know that security is there.

Me mam only has an hour 3 days a week so she can have a shower safely, but it is the lack of consistent carers, their low pay, leading to such a shortage, that is a stain on this govt.

She twice has had live in carers, both tremendous, one Kenyan, one from South Africa, both brilliant. Latest legislation would mean they wouldnt have been here to help her.
 
janey said:
It is a fab service, it’s such a comfort to know that security is there.

Me mam only has an hour 3 days a week so she can have a shower safely, but it is the lack of consistent carers, their low pay, leading to such a shortage, that is a stain on this govt.

She twice has had live in carers, both tremendous, one Kenyan, one from South Africa, both brilliant. Latest legislation would mean they wouldnt have been here to help her.
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The lack of good, available carers on anything resembling decent money is a massive issue.
 
Goat Eyes said:
The lack of good, available carers on anything resembling decent money is a massive issue.
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It really, really is. Dont get me wrong, every carer me mam has had have been wonderful, it’s the lack of regular ones and the times they turn up late.

And, that’s so not the carers or even the companies fault. It’s a lack of carers and an undermining of their importance.

It’s the dreadful lack of responsibility of the govt, I’m old enough to remember Johnson, on steps of Downing Street, in 2019, saying he had a plan to sort Social care.
 
janey said:
It really, really is. Dont get me wrong, every carer me mam has had have been wonderful, it’s the lack of regular ones and the times they turn up late.

And, that’s so not the carers or even the companies fault. It’s a lack of carers and an undermining of their importance.

It’s the dreadful lack of responsibility of the govt, I’m old enough to remember Johnson, on steps of Downing Street, in 2019, saying he had a plan to sort Social care.
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Think his plan was to let it collapse so only the wealthy could afford it.
 
Yes, the Care Connect system from Durham CC is excellent. My mam has used it a few times and the response has been very quick. Just have to keep reminding her that it's not there for her to have someone to chat to.
 
If you are in Washington talk to your GP they now have a social prescriber service. They got my mum(92), sorted. It was all linked to an assessment of her needs, falls, Alzheimer’s and dementia.

She now has a stair lift, indoor walker ,a three wheeled outdoor walker which has a shopping bag built into it, a falls alarm, and careers calling four times a day to make sure she gets het medication, she was unable to consistently remember when and what to take.

Before we had this in place, I was having to call in four times a day seven days a week, I am an only child so on one else to do this, I can now go back to being her son and not a career.

This all means she can stay at home, which is what she wants.

The worst part was that it took until she had a fall resulting in a bleed on the brain, before she would accept all of the help.

As she has less than £23,250 in savings she get help towards the cost of all this support.

So in short male use of the social prescriber, they will pull everything together.
 

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