Still Waiting on A Personal Emergency Response System to Recommend

I’ve been interested in the PERS (personal emergency response system) offerings for quite some time, because families routinely ask me about these. The classic PERS device is a pendant device with a button to push, and often I see older adults in assisted-living facilities wearing these. (Do facilities offer residents a discount on these? Are facilities getting a commission? Or does it help facility staff do their work? I’ve never known.)

Residential facilities aside, in my work PERS devices come up especially for vulnerable older adults who live alone. I know many seniors who have fallen, fractured something or otherwise been injured, and have not been found for hours or even days. Needless to say, lying injured on the floor is often disastrous for health, and such falls often prompt a permanent relocation to a more supportive — and generally more expensive — living situation.

So I certainly understand why people are drawn to PERS devices, assuming an older adult is willing to wear it — but many forget or don’t want to. A PERS also has to activate when an emergency occurs, either by automatically detecting a fall or problem, or because the user triggers it.

Should we be using PERS devices that require users to call for help? Studies generally find that most older adults do not trigger their call system after a fall. Here’s a quote (emphases added by me) from this very interesting study of older adults and falls:

In 95% (209/219) of falls that occurred when the individual was alone, and in 99% (141/143) of falls in those who could not get up when they fell alone, the person had some form of call alarm system. In 80% (113/141) of these falls, however, the person who fell alone did not use their call alarm to summon help. This was most often the case in institutional settings (94%, 62/66) but was also so for most falls both in the community (78%, 28/36) and in sheltered accommodation (59%, 23/39). Of these 141 falls, 38 resulted in lying on the floor for over an hour, despite an installed alarm system, and in 97% of these “long lies” (37/38) the person who fell alone did not use their alarm to summon help.

Another small study also found that 83% of those who had fallen and lain on the floor for more than five minutes did not activate their PERS.

Given this data, seems to me it’s not money well spent for a senior or family to pay for a PERS device, unless it has automatic fall detection.

And given that so many vulnerable older adults are reluctant to wear a device in the first place, one wonders whether a wearable PERS is the way to go, especially if an older adult has Alzheimer’s or another dementia. To monitor for falls and emergencies, sensors in the home may be a better option.

Still, some people will want to consider a PERS system. In this case, to understand the options available and for very sensible reviews, I like the work being done at Tech-Enhanced Life. They have created a learning module and a selection tool, and seem to be free of commercial influences.

For a scholarly review of fall detection systems, see this 2013 article.

Where are the new and innovative PERS offerings?

Given the recent interest in the aging market and in new technologies, I really thought we’d have more new options by now. But so far, anything newer I’ve heard about is either still at the concept stage, or is not doing particularly well.

For instance, Lively, a company that started off with home activity monitors and then developed a special watch/PERS for seniors, was recently acquired by GreatCall and reportedly is “out of business.”

For an interesting commentary on this, see this post by Laurie Orlov: “Aging in place tech firm Lively is out of business – what can we learn?” And be sure to read the comments.

Other newer options I’ve heard about include Unaliwear and Q Watch.

Otherwise, most PERS options are being offered by well-established companies like Phillips, Medical Guardian, GreatCall, Alert 1 and so forth. None is beautiful to look at or strikes me as a “desirable” item, which is too bad, because we want tools for aging adults to seem appealing.

Consumer Reports covered medical alerts in 2014. I think the Tech-Enhanced Life guide is more useful, but there are interesting user comments on Consumer Reports.

Last but not least, I recently asked a geriatric social worker colleague of mine (who follows new technologies) what PERS device she recommends. She said she likes the Phillips Go Safe system. I was surprised that there is nothing newer and more stylish to recommend, but maybe in another 1-2 years, we’ll have better options.

Have you tried a PERS system, or have you heard of one that seems promising? If so, I’d love to hear from you in the comments.