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My 95 year old Mom has alzheimer's / dementia and I gently let her know how important it is to wear the Phillips Lifeline Necklace which has fall detection but she forgets (which I understand due to her dementia). She loves wearing her gold necklace. I even took off the string that is threaded through the Lifeline and put a 18K gold plated snake chain through it, but that didn't work either.


Any ideas as I do need to leave the house for 20 to 30 minutes to buy food or pick up her medication.


For those that don't know me, I am a full time caregiver for my Mom (24/7) and I don't have any help nor at this time do I need any help since my Mom is the sweetest person I know and so easy to take care of. I'm scared that she may fall (which she has done in the past).


I do have a smart phone if that makes any difference.


Thanks,


Jenna

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You say you are only leaving her for under an hour while you run errands - I get that you want to enclose her in bubble wrap but I'm not sure that any devise is going to buy anything more than a (false?) feeling of security and perhaps a lessening of unjustified guilty feelings. Imagine she falls now while you are at the store and you don't find her until you return home in 20 minutes. Now imagine you are at the store and you get an alert or you check the security app on your phone and you see her on the floor, so you drop everything and rush home in a panic to assess the damage. How much have you gained?
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JennaRose Jan 2021
I understand what you are saying but if I saw that she fell on my phone while I was at the store I would call 911. I wouldn't have to panic and rush home though knowing me I would drop everything and come home. Groceries can wait.
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Why don't you just get some inexpensive security cameras, that you can access from your smart phone, when you are away? I had a camera on the mantel in my living room where my husband was in the hospital bed,(he was bedridden), and I too was his 24/7 caregiver, so when I did have to go out, I could just check on him through my phone. Because your mom is mobile, you would just need to place the cameras throughout your house. The camera gave me great peace of mind. I have the Blink Security cameras, and mine are the older ones that you only can hear on them , where now the ones they have have where you can hear what's going on, and also talk to the person as well. I think I only paid like $200, for 3 cameras, and the module. Worth every penny.
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JennaRose Jan 2021
I actually have 2 Blink Security Camera's (I bought them for different reasons) and now they are not being used.

Thanks for reminding me that I have them so I could set one up in my Mom's bedroom (where she spends most of her time) and the hallway which she uses to go to the bathroom.

She doesn't remember how to use the telephone and/or answer the telephone (which I forget to mention in my original post).

I will set up my Blink camera's.

Thanks, Jenna
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I am thinking the best solution would be a regular aide at a regular weekly or bi-weekly time that sits while you shop - for safety & peace of mind.

I work with the elderly. When they have had a fall I ask do you have a falls alarm? So many say yes. Were you wearing it? Quite often yes. Did you press the button. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Answers include they forget they had it, forgot how it worked. Mostly shuffled to a phone to call a relative instead. One lay in a garden all night instead of pressing the button.

My own relative has lain on the floor all night without pressing the button. Oh well, she thought, can't fall any further, just sleep here tonight.

JennaRose, I don't mean to scare you. Just there are situations beyond your control. Providing the alarm IS in your control. Whether Mother pushes the button is not. Falls happen due to a zillion reasons: loss of balance but also due to TIA, stroke, heart attack, blood pressure problems etc. Not everyone who falls call think straight. I gather the necklace is an automated alarm? Better, but not the whole solution.

If she is on the floor she cannot fall further. Yes stroke, head injury, heart attack need immediate treatment but what are your Mother's plans? Does she want CPR? I am sorry to be confronting - but many don't want that.

Maybe try a sitter.

Not good for you to be rushing round the shops in a panic attack ☹️. (((hugs)))
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JennaRose Jan 2021
Hi Beatty,

Yes, the necklace has a fall detection alarm. It worked in the past when my Mom fell down (without her pressing the button) because it touches the floor in within seconds someone calls from our local hospital and speaks through the monitor asking if my Mom is okay. My Mom and/or myself talk to the monitor.

I know I can't protect her 100% but I can try with all the devices that are available to me. As I posted I ordered a camera that has a feature where it pans 360 degrees and follows my Mom which I can view on my smartphone as well as talk to her (it has an intercom feature).

When I go out (and that could be once a week) I'm only gone for 30 to 45 minutes (I'm a homebody and enjoy being at home). I don't know if someone would come and sit with my Mom for such a short time. That's why I ordered this camera so I can monitor my Mom when I am out as well as talk to her.

I got really nervous because I had an important eye doctor app't yesterday which was far away so I ended up bringing my Mom with me. She enjoyed the ride (Vermont is beautiful this time of year with the snow-capped trees and mountains). Mom said to me she would like to get out more often.

Thanks for your input,
Jenna
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Does the company offer other devices like a bracelet? Could the bracelet be used as an ankle monitor?
Can the necklace be placed in a pocket each morning? She would not notice it so probably she would leave it alone.
You might also want to consider putting security cameras in the house that you can monitor on your phone.
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JennaRose Jan 2021
Philips Lifeline does offer a bracelet but it doesn't have the fall detection feature, only the necklace which does work as it has gone off in the past and the operators speak through the large monitor.

My Mom is so confused that I don't even know if she knows to press the button. She's only familiar with tasks from her past years except the telephone.

I already have 2 security cameras so I will set them up as I can see her on my phone.
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I like Grandma1954's pocket idea, or perhaps pinning it to her waistband if there are no pockets. Somewhere out of sight would hopefully be out of mind as well so she wouldn't remove it.
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My Mom and I just finished playing cards and I asked her why she takes it off. She said it bothers her when she goes to sleep and lays on her side. I think if I can make it shorter it wouldn't bother her.
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Jenna Rose: you can add sensors on the doors, windows, as well as other locations. I had a sensor on the lid of the bathroom waste container that my mom would use every time she used a personal non flushable wipe. I would get an alert and know she would need extra care. The non obtrusive device gave me the ability to “magically appear” whenever she needed me.
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It is a difficult situation when a person with dementia won't wear a medical alert pendant. There is a company that makes soles for a person's shoes that has a GPS tracking device in them. Most individuals with dementia do wear their shoes, so this is a good resolution for many. However, this system does not have a fall detection component. I really don't know a good solution for that part of the problem.

I want to let you know that if your mom has a fall pendant, it is crucial to know that she must wear the pendant outside of her clothes. These pendants need to be able to register the velocity and the impact of a fall. When someone is wearing the pendants on the inside of a shirt, the fall may not register.
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JennaRose Jan 2021
It's not that she won't wear it but takes it off because it bothers her when she goes to sleep at night as she feels it when she turns on her side, so she is wearing the pendant during the day but not at night.

Yes, she does wear it outside of the clothes.

Thanks!
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She may be beyond the point where she would be able to use it, remember to use it, or understand its importance.

I recommend installing cameras around the house that can be monitored via a phone app. For example, people use them for their pets when they need to leave the house. (We have the Kasa app on our phones for that purpose.)

The only alert device that seems to be somewhat reliable is the ankle bracelet that cannot be removed easily. They use them in nursing homes.
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cweissp Jan 2021
I agree. When my father was in the SNF they had their device on their ankle - the residents were unable to remove it.
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Hi Jenna,
My mom, 96, who lives with us did the same thing every night before going to bed. She is still able to put herself to bed and get dressed in the morning. My mom also pushed the button a few times unnecessarily. The one she wears has an automatic fall response. What I had to do, which works for us is I placed tape over the call button. Also, so she does not remove the lanyard, I had to shorten it. Unconventional, but it's working for us. Good luck
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