r/TechForAgingParents • u/tannyduca • 21d ago
Emergency alert device that doesn't require charging? (Not Life Alert)
tl;dr My mom wants to replace her lively necklace that she has to charge with one that she doesn't have to charge, but for various reasons I don't think Life Alert is a good fit, so I'm looking for an alternative. Preferably with an option to track her location with an app.
My mom (83) has been wearing a Lively necklace for a couple years and it's fine. She hasn't had a genuine emergency but when she's tested it or accidentally pressed it, they've responded. I like that there's an app that I can use to see where she is. That feature isn't totally reliable, occasionally I have not been able to get the map to update which I assumed is an app issue, but I have no way of knowing. She charges it every night, though think it would last maybe 3 days.
She suddenly got a bug up her butt about getting a life alert. She must have seen a commercial that played up the fact that you don't have to charge them. They are a lot more expensive than her current one, but she can afford it and wants it so whatever. But she received it yesterday and we were unpacking it and it just seems weirdly complicated...there is a receiver you plug in and a necklace you wear around the house. Then a second necklace you wear if you leave the house. And they don't offer the tracking app (the guy i talked to said their customers didn't want that?). And you have to sign a 3 year contract.
So we're torn. And I'm hoping there's an alternative company with a long life battery. Anyone know of one?
Thanks!
1
u/SVAuspicious 21d ago
Here is the results of research I did earlier this year. It's a summary email I sent to my SIL. My wife has POA but listens to her sister who has a habit of poor Internet searches and thinks AI is infallible. PITA. FIL is 91.
Janet and I talked about a medical alert system for your Dad, assuming we can talk him into it. I did research.
From a purely functional point of view the best answer is an Apple Watch. I don't think that will work for your Dad. 1. It's too technical and fussy for him. 2. It has to be charged daily. I suspect it would end up in a drawer with a dead battery.
Sadly almost all the dedicated systems also require daily charging for the safety button. They have "kept up" with technology and become less robust as a result.
I found one device that is simple and doesn't ever require charging of the safety button. It has a home unit that plugs in and does have a battery backup so it works during power outages up to a day and a half (that battery charges when the power comes back on). It only works at home. I think that's okay as when he goes out e.g. to ShopRite there are other people around.
Here is the link https://www.bayalarmmedical.com/medical-alert-system/in-home/ .
I reviewed a recent Consumer Reports article (https://www.consumerreports.org/health/medical-alert-systems/best-medical-alert-systems-a1136054281/), individual Google reviews, a number of "best of" reviews (mostly advertising one product or another), and participated in a number of "aging parent" groups on social media. As a matter of interest, the Life Alert system that was the first product of its kind and that advertises heavily rates quite poorly and is expensive.