I have an elderly lady living next door and she doesn't really seem to have anyone checking on her (I have never seen anyone coming to hers) apart from me and my partner every once in a while (usually she will pop by asking if we need anything and vice versa).

I'm a little bit paranoid about what would happen if she fell/collapsed in her apartment and couldn't call for help. It doesn't help that there is a dog living with her (I'm not gonna paint the picture, but I'm sure you heard the stories...).

I want to suggest to her to have some sort of SOS button that she could carry around the flat and, if something happens, she could press it to call for help.

I found this on aliexpress but it has it's own proprietary android app that I don't think would work on my GrapheneOS phone. Local, non-aliexpress options are pretty expensive and/or are subscription based.

Do you know of any alternative that wouldn't break a bank and would have more open source friendly system in place?

EDIT: I was thinking about a cheap wireless door bell (she would have the button - door bell would be in our flat). The problem is when we are away from home.

Perhaps a door bell with simple phone push notifications (my partner has a regular android phone so she could receive those)? Any product suggestions?

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[–] rufus@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

You want something that she's comfortable with. A necklace or a bracelet/watch with a big red button that's also specifically made so you don't have too many false alerts. Because that happens all the times. People do chores and push the button inadvertently and older people don't want to bother people, so then they're ashamed of having too many false alerts and won't have it with them 24/7 out of false shame. So use something that's made for the purpose and not a doorbell.

Also it has to be obvious how to use it. Even when in distress at 5am after you've fell down and can barely remember what you're supposed to do. A necklace with one big red button will probably do it. Or something similar she can wear around your wrist.

There are also emergency phones with a red button on the back. (And watches with fall detection.) But you need to have a subscription for the phone to dial out. And it needs to be charged regularly. A RF button won't have those downsides.

I don't know which product to buy. But seems there are several ones out there < $50

Search keywords would be something like: elderly, emergency button, necklace, pendant, alert system, call button.

https://www.pflegerufset.de/ELDAT-RS16-Hausnotruf-mit-Armbandsender-mit-Quittierungssender/PRS10125

https://www.rollstuhl-senioren.de/hausnotruf-fuer-senioren/

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Emergency-Seniors-Bracelet-Monitor-Elderly/dp/B0B6VRN8JF/

https://www.amazon.de/Handsender-Hausnotruf/s?k=Handsender+Hausnotruf

https://www.tuerklingel-shop.de/Mobiler-Alarm-Notruf-Knopf-Funk-Senioren-Hausnotruf-Pflege-Ueberfall-2-Sender-Pflegedienst

Aliexpress also has some "Tuya Wifi Smart Sos button". But I'd probably go for something simple. A button that sends a RF signal and a receiver at your place that's making the audible alert. WiFi, bluetooth, Apps etc make it more complicated and more likely to fail.