To younger, healthy people, independence is easy to take for granted. But as a person grows older, independence can slowly slip away due to health issues. This is a real problem for seniors, who generally value their independence greatly – just as everyone else does.

Yet this loss of independence is not inevitable. Technological assistance is available to help elderly people continue living independently for as long as possible, and there’s no better example of that than personal alarms for the elderly. These small devices can make a huge difference in an older person’s ability to live safely on their own, and in this blog post, we’ll explain why.

Why do seniors lose their independence?

In order to understand how to tackle the problem of lost independence, we need to understand why it happens in the first place.

Physical issues

Put simply, age-related frailness and medical conditions of many kinds can make it more and more difficult for an elderly person to take care of their daily life tasks all on their own. Everyday activities like showering or cooking can become extremely challenging to seniors who have mobility difficulties or worsening eyesight. Sometimes, even personal care like showering can become tricky.

Crucially, health concerns ranging from arthritis to medication side effects can also increase an older person’s chances of a risky fall, which can be especially dangerous if it happens while the person is alone with no help to get them off the floor.

Emotional issues

As seniors grow physically weaker or frailer, they may become more anxious or fearful about being alone in their homes. They may be worried that if a crisis of any kind occurs, no-one will know about it or be able to assist them. If they know a lot about elderly health, they might even specifically worry about what would happen after a dangerous fall while they’re alone.

Financial issues

Carers can make a huge difference in an elderly person’s life, helping them to remain living in their own homes, but care can also be expensive. Although benefits like attendance allowance can help, it’s still not always easy for older people to ensure they have help around when they need it without paying impossible sums of money for care.

Why is independence so important?

In the past, all these reasons for dwindling independence were sometimes seen as unavoidable. Care homes were a normal solution to the issue.

Today, however, experts in ageing agree that it’s best for older people to live independently for as long as they can, if they want to. This is called ‘ageing in place,’ and it’s all part of the idea that we shouldn’t think of care homes as an automatic consequence of ageing. They are just one part of a larger picture of the care and support that’s available for older people.

Moreover, it’s simply the case that most older people want to remain in their own homes. 96%, in fact! As humans, autonomy and self-determination are important to us, so it’s also important that older people can live alone if they want to and it’s possible.

Lastly, a loss of independence can mean a move away from an old home, whether that’s because the elderly person is moving in with a relative or moving to a care home. But a senior’s home may have emotional ties that are meaningful, and it may be close to friends. When an older person has to leave their social circle and their familiar space, negative mental health effects can result.

How personal alarms can help

A personal alarm for the elderly is a device that’s designed to give older people access to help whenever a crisis occurs. It’s worn on a wrist strap or pendant all the time, even in the shower, which means it’s always on hand to be used in an emergency. Moreover, personal alarms typically allow a senior to raise an alarm by pressing one single button – so they couldn’t be easier to use, even if an older person is feeling dizzy, unwell or confused.

Fall detection technology even allows some personal alarms to detect occasions when their wearer has fallen and call for help all on their own. While a personal alarm can’t be capable of detecting every single fall, this functionality offers important protection to older people who are concerned they might be unconscious after a fall and unable to call for help.

These are just some of the reasons why a personal alarm is so effective in enabling seniors to live alone with confidence, combating numerous factors that prevent independent living. Others include…

Physical independence

Seniors who have mobility difficulties or other long-term health conditions are safer living alone when they have a mechanism to call for assistance in an emergency. That’s just common sense. Whether the older person needs help because of a fall or a different emergency, like a heart attack, it’s typically true that receiving help faster results in better health outcomes and recovery.

The ability to get help after a fall also reduces the chances of a ‘long lie’ – a situation where the elderly person lies on the floor for an hour or more without being able to get up. A long lie comes with its own serious health risks, which include surprisingly severe physical harms like kidney damage and psychological harms like a fear of falling. Therefore, it’s no surprise that a long lie can trigger a continuing decline in a senior’s health which can result in their move to a care home.

Furthermore, a senior who might limit their walks away from home for fear of not getting help can walk more freely with a mobile alarm with GPS tracking. This alarm ensures that help will find the older person who needs it, since the alarm location can be tracked on an app.

Emotional independence

Fear of falling or simple anxiousness about living alone can potentially be debilitating. A personal alarm offers seniors confidence and peace of mind as they continue to live independently.

Financial independence

At SureSafe, we often discuss the power of tech devices and aids, including personal alarms, to provide help that can keep some older people independent without using more expensive solutions like carers.

For example, cameras can help family members stay in touch with an older person and be assured that nothing is wrong, while walking aids can give seniors a bit more steadiness while moving about.

The right set of devices all working together can make the difference between an elderly person being able to live alone and independently versus paying for costly care or moving into a relative’s home.

Learn more about the alarm options available from SureSafe

At SureSafe, we’re passionate about helping to ensure that seniors can remain living independently at home if they want to. That’s why our speciality is protecting older people from being unable to call for assistance in an emergency.

And since we know every elderly person’s situation is different, our premier SureSafeGO alarm offers options that allow a senior to choose exactly the alarm they want – whether that’s an alarm that calls nearby family and friends in an emergency or an alarm that calls a dedicated response centre late at night, when friends might be asleep.

If you’re thinking of investigating a personal alarm further, why not speak to our experts? To talk more about how personal alarms can give seniors what they need to live independently, just give us a call at 0808 189 1671, talk to us through live chat, or by request a call back.