Security And Peace Of Mind For Your Aging Parents With A Home Medical Alert System
September 3rd, 2010If you are like many adult children with aging parents who live alone, you may find yourself worrying about mom or dad’s safety. It takes very little for an elderly person to end up with months of hospitalizations, medical bills or rehabilitation: one fall can do it. And when you add in the likelihood of medical issues that may require a senior to need immediate attention, it is apparent why so many families turn to home medical alert systems to help protect their aging parents and family members.
It can be challenging however, to sort through the hundreds of home medical alert systems on the market. To start, it is best to learn how these systems are meant to work. Most fall into one of two categories: those with a round the clock monitoring service, and those that have no service, and only provide the equipment.
Implementing service with a home medical alert system that has a monitoring service starts with a written service agreement between the customer and monitoring company. Once service begins, the monitoring company responds each time the alert device is activated, and then is responsible for contacting the agreed upon people: family, friends, or emergency personnel.
It is important to factor in the cost of a monitoring service with a system like this. There is typically a monthly fee, in the range of $30-$40 per month, plus an installation or activation fee.
But do mom or dad need 24/7 monitoring? For many elderly, it is not necessary, and for them, home medical alert systems that consist only of equipment are fine. This is clearly a more affordable option, as there isn’t that monthly service fee, and usually no set up fee either. For those who have cost as a primary consideration, choosing a service that provides only equipment will be important.
In a system that does not include monitoring, when the device is activated, the call will go directly to the numbers that have been programmed: depending on the system chosen, family, friends, or possibly emergency personnel.
Having security and peace of mind for your aging parents is valuable, and home medical alert systems can provide just that.