Emergency alarms
A pendant or wristband with a button linked to a monitoring centre or to family. Designed for one moment: a fall or a sudden crisis.
They rely on the person wearing it and being able to press it, which is the well-known weakness.
Passive sensors
Motion, door, bed and fall sensors that report activity or its absence. Useful signals, but they tell you after something has gone wrong, and they can feel like being watched in your own home.
Check-in and reminder services
Scheduled contact: a call, a text or a phone alert at set times, with confirmation that it was received. This is the preventative end — the drink taken, the meal eaten, the appointment remembered.
It does not detect a fall and does not call an ambulance. It reduces how often things reach that point.
How to combine them
- An alarm for genuine emergencies.
- Reminders for the ordinary days, which is most of them.
- Sensors only where there is a specific, agreed concern and consent to match.
- Always ask what happens if the broadband or power fails, and whether the analogue phone switchover affects the device.
The wider picture
3.9 million
people aged 65 and over in the UK live alone, around a third of that age group.
Source: Office for National Statistics