Pendant alarms are based on technology that was first used in the early 1980s where the user wears a large button either around their neck or on a wristband that – if they are wearing it and press it – will call for help. You may also know them as lifeline or piper alarms.
They are the most widely used, and will nearly always be the standard offering from social care providers.
While they were a massive leap forward in caring for people who live alone they are very limited in terms of what they can do by todays standards.
Though it is suggested that people should wear their pendant alarm all through the day, they are impractical to wear at night and, additionally many users don’t like the stigmatising feel of a clinical looking device and therefore avoid wearing it.
Studies have shown only about 20% wear it all or most of the time and you have no way of knowing if they are wearing it when you are not there!
Acticheck was created as a reaction to these limitations – Acticheck’s founder was searching for a way to look out for his mother but neither of them were satisfied with what was available.
Neither did they accept that telecare should be based on a solution from the fax machine-era when true digital age technology could offer so much more.