Senior Monitoring & Medical Alert Systems Helping Elders to Live Safely & Independently

It's often seen that seniors prefer aging at home rather than going to an assisted living facility. However, with age, most seniors experience problems that are physical (osteoporosis, muscle atrophy, deteriorating eyesight, etc.) and/or psychological (dementia, depression, etc.). Such problems usually make it difficult for elders to perform activities of daily living (ADL) (and certain instrumental ADL) without the help of others. In-home senior care services helping with ADL & instrumental ADL are generally used for only few hours a day (except live-in care & 24-hour care); thus, seniors are left unattended for the remaining part of the day. Senior monitoring & medical alert systems add an extra layer of security that allows seniors to live independently at home for longer periods.

Personal emergency response systems (PERS) are extremely useful in the case of an emergency. A PERS is a device that can connect the user to a 24/7 monitoring station with a simple push of a button such that appropriate help resources can be dispatched to the user's house in time during an emergency. This button can also be provided within a bracelet or necklace making it easier for the senior to call the monitoring station. As the monitoring station also has medical information of the client, the time taken to provide proper medical assistance is also reduced. Apart from providing high-quality in-home senior care services in various counties of New Jersey, Comfort Keepers also offers different types of personal emergency response systems.

There are many home monitoring systems that can be used alongside PERS to provide better security to seniors living alone. Window and door sensors detect when a particular door and window is opened and communicate this information with the monitoring station. If in the night sensors detect opening of a door, the monitoring station will quickly pass on this information to the people on the responder list. Pressure mats & motion detectors can pick on any unusual movements and communicate with the monitoring station to take appropriate actions. Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors can activate the alarm in a house when fire or substantial amount of carbon monoxide is identified and simultaneously send this information to the monitoring station to call the fire department.

Though these home monitoring systems are useful to all seniors, they are most helpful in the case of seniors with dementia (Alzheimer’s in particular). Their movement within & outside the house as well as cases of fire & high CO levels could be easily detected and appropriate actions can be taken swiftly. Other than these security measures, medical alert systems could also be used for better medication management.

Learn about in-home care, senior care services offered by Comfort Keepers. We specialize in Alzheimer's care, dementia care, 24-hour and live-in care services.