I've been around the houses a few times with this and got a bit stuck in a loop of contradictory "facts", so I really hope there's someone out there in STW Land who's got some experience trying to solve a similar problem.
A relative is a bit isolated, help is an hour+ away, in the best case that a) he's able to call for it, and b) we're on the end of the phone and able to come straight away.
A smart watch with fall detection is a good start, (wife has a Garmin Venu - too sensitive for mtb, but process seems great for the relative: the watch sounds alarm to say it's detected a fall and will send a message, user is able to say "I'm OK" if they are)
BUT the house doesn't have good phone signal everywhere, and the phone might be on the other side of the house, so the watch needs to be able to connect to the phone via wifi.
1) I'm guessing the smart watch instructs the phone it's paired with to send the message. What if the phone is out of LTE signal? Is it up to the phone's settings whether to send a message over wifi instead?
2) Are there watches that stay paired with their phone via wifi rather than bluetooth, allowing better connectivity through a house than bluetooth?
3) Are there any smart watches that can tell phone to send a fall alert message to a whatsapp group? Or allow a set up a shortcut button on the watch face screen to call/ message whatsapp?
4) Are there LTE watches that can send their own fall-alert message over wifi if available? (in case phone is out of battery/ left in the car)
Any hints, tips, facts, links hugely appreciated. Thank you!
Bear in mind smart watches need to be charged very often.
I reckon you want a specialist device. I'd be surprised if someone doesn't make one.
My grandmother and mother in law used to have a pendant thing. There's probably better stuff now as this was a few years back as a press would connect to a call centre who'd ring down a list until they got someone.
Red Care, or what ever it was called - that 's what MIL had.
I would recommend a specialist device, wrist worn falls detectors for people at risk of falls are available.
I’m a social worker in an adults team and I can check what brand we supply tomorrow if that would help. Such items are known as TEC, technology enabled care
I would also suggest your relative considers contacting their local authority, or you could on their behalf with their consent. This is because your relative is eligible for an assessment of their needs under legislation (however I’m referring to England and wales only, other legislation covers the other nations). If your relative is assessed to have care needs they may be able to get a loan of TEC free of charge. There are criteria of course and it may be worth your relative calling the adult social care team of the LA to ask this specific question.
My mum is prone to falls, but enjoys going out for a few miles a day walking. Rural, small town.
A few incidents of falling forward and busting her nose led her to seek a solution in the adverts pages of the daily express (or whatever) at £19 per month plus a device cost and she'd wear it around her neck.
So we tried out an Apple Watch connected to her iPhone. They are Bluetooth and WiFi connected and you can get cellular ones as well. Mum's is the SE version of the watch and non-cellular.
It's worked well, with her having 2 falls which have both resulted in the device starting its emergency routine (cancelled on the watch).
I will say she's had a third fall which didn't activate the protocol, but we're less certain of what happened in the fall so aren't sure if it tried to but mum stopped it.
Yes, it needs charging a bit. Yes, she thought it wasn't waterproof and took it off getting in the shower (retraining now given!), but she likes it as it's more useful than a simple dongle type thing.
For the OP, it depends. Personally, the watch is brilliant if you can be sure it'll be worn. I'd be tempted to get the cellular version and maybe a WiFi extender at home if the signal is poor. Being Yorkshire folk, the annual cost of the dongle was excessive (for mum!) compared to the watch. She's even persuaded her sister to get one so she must trust it.
PS I think the watch sends an SMS to the emergency contacts. WhatsApp may be problematic as it relies on data, whereas a sms will go out more easily I think? There are 3 or 4 of us on the list.
Thanks everyone! Sorry I've posted since first post, but I've read and have been researching suggestions further, including some left-field options like Flic smart buttons, programmed IFTTT rules to family whatsapp group. Need to do a full pros/cons comparison of all the options for when I see them on Sunday. Might stop short of doing a Powerpoint presentation, but that might be the best way!
Cheers again!
There are additional options via other "smart tech", there are camera's that can do fall detection and/or as a backup you could do presence detection in certain rooms (no movement over a certain time frame and you get an alert)