Sensor that detect falls

[Faye_1506]

Hi, sorry to trouble you all again but I would be grateful for your advice. The council have said they are concerned about my fathers safety at night. He’s a bit disorientated after a long stay in hospital. They wont provide night sitters for the over 65 but have said they could give him a sensor pendant that would pick up if he falls. I would then receive a phone call to go out to see him. I am a bit worried about how sensitive the sensor would be. I live two buses away from him. Obviously if he falls (he hasn’t so far) I would go and help him but if the sensor just picks him moving in bed or standing up to go to the toilet etc I wouldn’t want to travel all that way (he can’t hear at night as they take his hearing aids out so I couldn’t call him). Does anyone have any experience of these devices? Thank you.

[Chris From The Gulag]

Hi Faye.

No request is ever a problem !!!

Internet search ... SENSOR PENDANTS REVIEWS ... good place to start ?

Others will be along to add their views ... hopefully , from first hand experiences.

Sounds more like a classic cost cutting move ???

[sunnydisposition]

Hi, sorry to trouble you all again but I would be grateful for your advice. The council have said they are concerned about my fathers safety at night. He’s a bit disorientated after a long stay in hospital. They wont provide night sitters for the over 65 but have said they could give him a sensor pendant that would pick up if he falls. I would then receive a phone call to go out to see him. I am a bit worried about how sensitive the sensor would be. I live two buses away from him. Obviously if he falls (he hasn’t so far) I would go and help him but if the sensor just picks him moving in bed or standing up to go to the toilet etc I wouldn’t want to travel all that way (he can’t hear at night as they take his hearing aids out so I couldn’t call him). Does anyone have any experience of these devices? Thank you.

Interesting; why are you being ask to respond to the call. This is usually provided by the local authority.

[Ayjay]

Does anyone have any experience of these devices? Thank you.

My wife has one, they do work. If my wife were to fall, (unlikely now as she can no longer weight bear) it phones these people:- https://argenti.co.uk/ - the phone unit is quite impressive in the way it can pick up speech from quite a distance away.

[bowlingbun]

No, if dad is liable to falls at night, that is a big flag that he deserves CHC! The social worker who said that has an urgent need for further training.

You should NEVER pick him up. The call centre should dial 999 and ask the ambulance service to check him over, especially given his complex medical history.

[Chris From The Gulag]

CHC ?

Main thread :

https://www.carersuk.org/forum/support- ... read-35998

( A frequent visitor ... I just whistle and up it's comes ! )

I have a sneeky suspicion that we have been here before ?

[Rosemary_1706]

Agree with bb.

[Faye_1506]

Thank you for your responses. My Father hasn’t actually fallen - but we havent been home a week yet! I do agree about the Continuing Healthcare Assessment- our advocate has been asking for one to be done but no joy yet. The social worker says he has to have six weeks of reablement care at home to try and get him back to his baseline before an assessment can be done.

There was much discussion in the hospital about whether he needed care at night. Thr hospital , after monitoring him for a couple of weeks, ultimately advised that it wasn’t necessary. The social worker also said that the only care they could provide was these sensors (they don’t provide night care for the over 65s). My understanding is that if he were to fall (and I don’t know what other motion would trigger the sensor ie if he moves violently in the night or walks?) then an alarm is activated at a call centre and they phone me or an ambulance if they can hear from him that he is hurt. I live two buses away so it would be difficult to get there quickly in the night. I was surprised that the OT raised this again the day after he was discharged from hospital. He is still a bit confused/ has some delirium so there is a risk but it is improving.

If they donthink it’s necessary I suppose incould do it but I’m worried that it may go off all night as he’s able to walk with his stick but his manner of walking/movement is very heavy and may trigger the alarm? I was concerned that there may be a number of false alarms and I would struggle at work the next day but it doesn’t sound like others have had a problem with it?

[bowlingbun]

Faye, you MUST set limits, for the sake of your own health and wellbeing. The more you do, the less Social Services will do. If the ambulance staff are called out, then there is usually an automatic notification to the GP concerned.

[Chris From The Gulag]

Local branch of AGE UK ... any help there ?

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/contact-us/

Direct link to their services :

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/services/#

0800 678 1602

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