Most people are in need of someone in their lives who would just hear them out. This is more so for elderly people who are living independently. The volunteers from the CONTACT Cape-Atlantic Reassurance Program make sure that elderly people in the area don’t feel lonely or left out. It is a part of CONTACT USA that provides 24-hour service to elderly people living alone in USA.

Homebound elderly people often feel suffocated and suicidal without having anyone to talk to. Also, in case of a problem or emergency they may not know with whom they should talk to. The CONTACT Reassurance Program volunteers call their elderly clients at least once a day to find out how they are, whether they are in need of any kind of help, and just to lend a comforting voice to these lonely souls.

The Gatekeeper Program by CONTACT has also been designed to keep in touch with elderly people in a locality. Volunteers from the community are trained under this program to keep a tab on the health and well being of the elderly people they meet. In case of any problem, they can inform CONTACT for help.

Thus, CONTACT has made great progress in elderly care by helping seniors with independent living.

When your elderly parents are at home and you are at your workplace, the thought that’ll keep bugging you at the back of your mind is their safety. How will you know they’ll be fine, once you walk out of the door every morning?

This is a tough situation faced by many working people in today’s fast paced life. Even if they are connected to their elderly parents through the telephone, they remain worried about them. Will his/ her mum or dad be able to make that one important call on time in case of an emergency?

Well, many companies are now offering specially designed phones for the elderly that are easy to install and use. Even if your parents are living independently, help can arrive just at the pressing of a button. Take the Yale Distress Alarm for instance. It is a panic alarm system with loads of features that are helpful for providing emergency care to elderly people.

The alarm system offered by Yale doesn’t ask for additional monitoring charges or expensive contracts, thus, making it within budget for all elderly people or their working children. The remote push button available with this panic alarm system makes it easier for elderly persons and invalids to let others know that they are in need of help. So, with the help of such a system you can concentrate fully on your work, knowing well that your mother or father will be able to contact you easily in case of an emergency.

With more and more elderly people living alone or independently away from their children, the concern for their safety and health has become a major issue. Even after installing the most secure precautionary devices, the concern for their safety in case of an accident at home or a medical emergency is still not efficiently taken care of.

However, the Tunstall Emergency Response Service changes all that. Even though often mistaken for being just another phone for the elderly or for over-60s couples who live alone, the Tunstall Emergency Response Service entails much more!

It has a stationary unit with a red, illuminated alarm button, which can be pressed in case of an emergency. The resulting action is pretty reassuring to say the least. The operator responds to the emergency call and tries to establish contact with the one soliciting help through a powerful loudspeaker on the unit. Even if one does not respond, emergency help and notification of the incident is sent to two key-holders – family, colleagues or friends – as mentioned in the personal information dossier you have submitted to the service provider.

The unit may also respond automatically to other emergency situations such as a fire (as smoke detectors are installed within the unit). The mobile alarm button allows soliciting help even if you are in the garden or porch, within 50 meters of the unit, and cannot go back into the house.

The Tunstall Emergency Response Service is especially beneficial for over-60s age group, seniors and elderly people, for some of whom, dialing a number on the conventional phone during an emergency may seem a herculean task. And being priced at just 55p per day, it is surprisingly affordable to have this automated security system installed in your home!

The freak disappearance and subsequent death of a 21 year old Australian backpacker, Britt Lapthorne, has inspired a whole new application for iPhone, which has not only been critically acclaimed but has also made common iPhone users sit up and take notice. Unlike other iPhone apps that usually deal with upgrading the gadget to even better tweaks and fine-tuned features, the ‘I am Safe’ iPhone app, as named by developer Tim Hine from Melbourne, Australia, works as an emergency panic button – notifying five predetermined family, friends or colleagues of imminent danger or threat to the owner of the iPhone within seconds.

Tim Hine, who is responsible for marketing the new app through Xpertise Mobile, his new company, says that a few hundred copies of the app have already been sold to a consumer base that encompasses over 38 countries. It has been mainly targeted towards the female segment of the iPhone users as well as for the elderly people. The ‘I am Safe’ app does the following when solicited for use in an emergency situation:

• Sends a prerecorded SMS message (pretty much an SOS) to 5 friends, family members of colleagues, who have been selected by the owner beforehand
• Also sends an email message to the same lot
• Sends across a prerecorded voice message, again to the same guys
• Records the whole process and incident and saves it in the server for reference in consequent events or just for the record

But why is the app being called the real savior of the elderly or backpacking girls? The reason is the incorporation of a Google map that tracks the location of the owner. This way, not only can the victim of an accident or mugging be accessed immediately with the use of the ‘I am Safe’ app, the actual evidence and related elements can also be picked up from the exact location of the incident.

The only issue with the app is (as with any other cellphone application) you got to have ‘Signal’ when you solicit for help. The absence of this little element can pretty much render the app ineffective, but isn’t it the case with all applications in general, no matter how perfect they are?

Is the world a safe place for elderly women and seniors over 65? Not with guys like Jack Rhodes around – a man convicted on 13th October, 2009 for assaulting and mugging three defenseless aged women, one of whom was no less than a 101 years!

New York City is no stranger to burglaries, thefts and mugging. However, the case of Jack Rhodes stands out as an outright violation of the New York State Hate Crimes Act of 2000, that have been put in place to render harsher sentences for those assaulting elderly people, taking advantage of their age and loss of strength and agility.

Rhodes, who is no tipsy teenager himself, being 47, can get a sentence of up to 90 years in prison for charges that account for burglary, robbery and assault.

Morat, 101, was attacked and assaulted by Rhodes two years back. She was hit in the face and lost her walker, falling face down on the concrete pavement. Surveillance camera records proved it was Rhodes, and a background check by the police revealed more similar assaults on elderly women. Solange Elizee, 81 was attacked only about 30 minutes after the Morat mugging, and another aged woman, Angela Khan, then 51 had been hit and robbed by the same assailant a year back.

Commenting on Rhodes’ conviction, Richard Brown, the Queens’ District Attorney quipped, “The defendant’s propensity to savagely accost elderly and defenseless women, two of whom need the aide of a walker to get around, was rightly condemned by today’s guilty verdict”.

However, to avoid such incidents from happening over and over again, not only police surveillance, but easy-to-use mobile phones can also come in handy for elderly people, especially, to solicit help while or after being mugged or assaulted.

Mobile phones can be really complicated to use these days, especially, with the advent of nano-technology and state-of-the-art devices! As a result of this, elderly people are unable to or severely restricted in using the potential of their mobile phones to the fullest.

However, the problem of inaccessible technology and communication barriers are easy to break with the help of simple mobile phones such as the Nokia 1112. Large keypad tabs and a simple monochrome display with a white back-light makes the phone a real boon for elderly people with disabilities or dysfunctional eyesight and hearing.

Moreover, the Nokia 1112 mobile phone provides a comprehensive user-guide demonstration that will help elderly users to handle and manage the technical elements of the phone in a better way. This model of Nokia phone is not only user-friendly but also an exemplary phone as far as simplicity is concerned!

Apart from the regular features, the phone also comes with an allied headset and speaking clock. Both are handy for elderly users as they can plug it to the headphone and keep talking while continuing walking with the help of a stick or while doing similar exercises that require the assistance of both hands.

The phone promises about 5 hours of talk-time and about 380 hours of battery standby. All in all, this feature-rich phone might not look like its state-of-the-art counterparts, but it is surely what elderly people would find very useful.

The last and the most important aspect of this mobile phone is its price, which is cheaper than almost all other Nokia phones. This is definitely a gem of a possession for retired people or pensioners!

Purchase Now – through Amazon UK – Nokia 1112 – Simple Phone

Aging parents are often difficult to take care of, especially, if the finances of your family are not in good shape. Statistics show that almost 30% of American adults care for their parents (including financial support), which on an average amounts to about $2,400 a year. At a time when the recession has dealt a hard blow on even the strongest of economies and job losses have become the order of the day, the average amount may well be out of reach for the average individual – forcing them to abandon financial assistance to their ailing or aged parents.

So, what do you do in these trying times? Do you go broke trying to fend off ill health from affecting your parents? NO! Here are some points you may consider to tackle the financial matters while caring for parents in a positive light:

• Discuss the Situation – Most parents will be ready to discuss their financial situation once they realize what’s plaguing you. Do not hasten. Carefully note down and analyze the existing finances, retirement plans, insurance covers, etc. that have been set up by your parents. If they do not have any, it is high time to initiate one.

• Try Long-Term Care Insurance – While this may not look beneficial at first glance, it is sure to help your parents get regular medical attention and professional care. Moreover, with a one-time investment in the policy, the financial worries will subdue for the destined period of care cover.

• Reverse Mortgage – Provided your parents are not already in debt or have not mortgaged the house, you can use it for a reverse mortgage policy. This way they will get a steady flow of money till they die or move out of the house (the latter should be discouraged at this age anyway).

• Government Policies and Grants – There are numerous health care and professional care giving policies and grants available for aging parents and older people in general. Try to find out what best suits your parents’ finances and go for it.

• Professional Care – Hiring a professional caregiver may be expensive, but if you have done your homework, you’ll find lots of cost-effective professional care giving solutions around you.

With these tips in mind, caring for parents would be easier – both emotionally and financially. However, make sure you have the right documents and legal rights in place to use your parents’ finances on their behalf in case they are disabled or fall ill.

Financial matters can be tricky, especially, in case of looking after aging parents. But with proper planning and a clear insight, caring for your parents won’t be as difficult as it seems.

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Further Reading

Aging Parents Authority has recently published an article on Stressed Out and Taking Care of Your Parents.

Kay Bell over at Don’t Mess With Taxes elaborates a little further with Aging parents, ageless money issues

Age tends to soften us up – not only emotionally but physically as well. Most of the people over 65 years of age tend to start noticing a loss of their senses. It is not only hard for them to deal with this but is also difficult for their friends, family and acquaintances!

The loss of hearing or a considerably weak eardrum can pose a lot more problems than expected. For instance, about 18% of people in the USA haven’t been able to access medical assistance in emergency situations due to their inability to comprehend or conduct calls for assistance on phones. The conventional phones or mobiles have a subtle ringtones and voice loudness – making it very difficult for elderly people to communicate.

The Geemarc Amplipower 50 provides a tailor-made solution to this problem with their corded phones having powerful sound quality. As many elderly people use hearing aids, a hearing aid compatible phone is definitely a much needed product from the manufacturers of telephone handsets.

The Geemarc Amplipower 50 has forged a new direction by taking a progressive step in the quality of amplified telephones. It has a volume limit of 60dB, which is pretty high compared to industry standards. The Geemarc Amplipower 50 is also a hearing aid compatible phone with not only a variety of features but also good looks.

Advantages like toned up outgoing voice and sound quality, hands-free speaker-phone facility and a Direct Vibe option that helps sounds to be converted into vibrations and sent through the bones above the ear, allowing a much better and comprehensible conversation. It has great optical features too with the brightness of the lights turned up a notch to let elderly people locate or identify a ringing phone easily.

Purchase Now – through Amazon UK – Geemarc Amplipower 50

Did you know that about a third of Americans who are aged over 65 suffer unintentional falls each year? Even more concerning is 16,000 cases resulting in death have been registered in the US due to unintentional elderly falls.

Now that you have sat up and taken notice (and probably worried for your over 65 parents living in another state or city), here are some facts that are even more alarming. The number of falls in the elderly population has been increasing by leaps since the last decade, and almost 2 million aged people were treated last year for injuries resulting from falls.

Statistics show elderly women fall more than men. However, fatal injuries resulting from unintentional falls are more prominent among men than women. Serious problems like brain hemorrhage, hip injuries, fractures, sprains and paralyses are most common due to elderly falls.

Preventing falls among the elderly can be reduced significantly – provided you take precautionary measures:

• Keep Active – Inactive or sedentary people often suffer falls more than active or fit individuals. As one ages, exercise and a healthy diet regime is what defines the line between healthy and the one routed for as possible fall.
• Mind Your Feet – Change your footwear to the more comfortable brands. It is advisable not to wear high-heels or shoes that you are not comfortable walking in. For men, it is advised not to wear shoes that do not have anti-slipping grids in the sole. While at home walk bare feet rather than in shoes.
• Fall-Proof Space – Fall-proof devices such as walkers and hold-on railings can be installed in order to prevent elderly falls within the house itself.
• Alarms – Medical or emergency alarms can also be fitted in the house at different places to ensure that the injured person can immediately call for help if they have fallen.
• Phones – In the event of a fall it’s critical to receive care from a emergency services or a family member as quickly as possible. Having the correct phone is a must. Many phones are now fitted with emergency pendants that can be pressed in the event of an accident. The pendant will activate the telephone handset to commence dialing pre-set telephone numbers so the injured can receive swift medical care.

Preventing falls does not require over-indulgence from your side or limiting the freedom of the elderly. All it needs is a little care and respect for the safety norms issued by medical professionals.

We’re all very aware Google dominates the internet search arena. Well now they are even bigger, literally! Google has recently adjusted its home page and search box so when you type the text is larger. Also, the text is larger for the suggestions which display below the search box.

For the elderly and sight impaired this is wonderful news as it makes searching for websites more comfortable and enjoyable for the mature users of the internet.

Surprisingly the slightly larger text doesn’t take away from Google’s minimal approach to its home page. Don’t take our word for it, have a look for yourself at Google increases size of text on its homepage.

And who said “size doesn’t matter!”