How do you check in on your aging family and friends?

My mom wore a panic button for years and one of their optional services was a daily check in, however she, and a lot of others in her age group, had an informal system of of daily phone calls between friends, each making sure the other was OK. Another of her friends had a neighbour that watched for her to open or close her curtains at morning and night. The idea isn't new, and it only makes sense that newer technology is now being made use of too.

abn908, are you advertising or thinking about doing such a service? Your last sentence made me question the post. Just curious.

There are already call services that one can use which have been around for years. The call service telephones each client at a certain time each day to make sure they are ok. If the service doesn't get an answer after a few calls, then they call a family member to see where is the client.

I rather be telephoned then text. Oh how I hate to text. But I know how to answer a landline without thinking, and those clients who are very elderly, landline desk top telephones are ingrained in their minds. A cellphone isn't.

freqflyer I'm trying to figure out the easiest option for my parents as they age. If I make something like this for my mom, I'm hoping hearing other people's opinions will help me make it as good as it can be!
The call services sound great. I know my mom doesn't like to answer the phone if she doesn't know the number though!

There are many wonderful monitoring services where seniors wear a necklace or wrist watch that allows them to push a button to get assistance. It just depends on what your parent feels comfortable with. Depending on the situation, I would call once a day if I wanted to or even drop in if that is convenient. At one point I even put a Nest camera in my dad's living room with his permission to monitor him.

I think there is an element of "assuming facts in evidence" with the texting proposal, and that is that an aging parent not only has a cell phone capable of texting, but also knows how to text. Frankly, I think texting is intrusive and blocked it from my cell phone. I have no intention of being pestered by texts and fiddling around with itty bitty buttons in response.

I think there's a different approach as well. If I'm concerned, I just call. I wouldn't be comfortable leaving the issue of safety up in the air and respond with action only if I didn't receive a callback from my parent. This is kind of a passive way of checking up.

We use medic alert monitors, daily calls, and neighbors who keep an eye out for anything amiss.

I recognize that younger caregivers want to integrate technology but I think it also has to be recognized that older people often don't have any interest in some of these new methods of communication. I'd have to ask what benefit would the elder get in attempting to learn these technologies? It's often difficult to put ourselves in their shoes, but they might think all this tech stuff is a waste of money. (I'm only in my 70s and I think some of it is a waste of money!)