With a growing number of seniors and elderly living alone, it has become important to adopt proper home security measures to ensure their safety and well-being. Nevertheless, with the current advancements in technology, ensuring home security for seniors, the elderly, and immobile family members is no longer a daunting task.
From automatic medicine dispensers to wireless monitoring devices, there’s no dearth of home security systems and tools for seniors. Burns, falls, and poisonings are some of the most common accidents involving seniors. Research shows that falls are the leading cause of death among people aged 65 and older. Not only this but approximately 9,500 deaths in older Americans are related to falls every year.
Therefore, whether you have a senior in your family struggling to manage their day-to-day tasks when you’re not around or an immobile family member, we’ve got a variety of solutions for your problem.
Crime Prevention and Home Protection for Seniors
Not just crime but the fear of crime can also affect the senior members of your family. Therefore, you must pay a great deal of attention to crime prevention and home protection for seniors.
Here are some quick tips to prevent crime and protect seniors at home:
Understand Why You Should Be Concerned About the Safety of Seniors and Elderly
Senior citizens typically exhibit the greatest fear of crime. Due to the natural phenomenon of aging, such as weak eyesight, hearing disability, body weakness, and so on, they perceive themselves as the most vulnerable to crime. Here are other reasons why you should be concerned about their safety:
- As their body ages, they’re less able to project a confident image or defend themselves.
- They may suffer from Alzheimer’s, dementia, or mental impairment.
- They may find it challenging to communicate verbally.
Identify the Most Common Crimes Against Seniors and Elderly
To protect seniors and the elderly, you need to first identify the most common crimes against them. Most criminals use social grooming and generational differences to victimize seniors. According to research by the Bureau of Justice, the elderly are most commonly susceptible to crimes driven by monetary gains.
Here’s a list of common crimes against seniors and the elderly:
- Identity fraud
- Identity theft
- Mail scams
- Property-related theft
- Vandalism
- Break-ins
- Abuse/neglect
Boost the Security In and Around Your House
From doors and windows inside your house to garages and backyards, you must secure every inch and corner of your house. 34% of burglars enter through the door. Also, 1 in 8 burglars picks a lock to enter a home. Similarly, 23% of burglars enter through windows that are unlocked or open and 9% enter through the garage. Therefore, here are some tips to increase security in and around your house:
- Secure your doors and windows with automatic rim latch locks and deadlocks.
- Install a door peep-hole to check who is at the door before deciding whether to open it or not.
- Ensure you get the doors and windows fitted by a professional locksmith.
- Keep the garage doors and windows locked when you’re not around.
- Install fences or prickly hedges to deter burglars and vandals.
- Build gravel driveways and paths to make it difficult for criminals to approach your house.
Install a Home Security System
The best and the most efficient way to ensure home security for seniors is to install a robust home security system. Most home security systems comprise the following:
- Home security cameras to monitor what’s happening both inside and outside your home
- Outdoor lights to deter criminals
- Alarms (burglars alarms, fire alarms, carbon monoxide alarms) to keep the seniors and elderly safe when you’re not around
Get Peace of Mind With a Home Security System for Seniors
A smart home security system can be an excellent investment if you’re looking for a home security system for seniors. Most of these systems comprise automation features that make your life easier.
A typical home security system for seniors comprises a centralized monitoring system with alarms or sirens. The centralized system monitors the door sensors, window sensors, both indoor and outdoor cameras, motion sensors, fire alarms, intruder alarms, and more. In the event of an accident or intrusion, the centralized monitoring system triggers notifications to the owners, emergency response services, and law enforcement personnel.
For seniors and the elderly, you can also customize the home security system per your requirements. You can add:
- Emergency medical monitoring
- Medical alert pendants with two-way voice and fall detection
- Additional indoor and outdoor home security cameras
- Alarms with automated texts
- Smart or remote-controlled thermostats
- Video doorbells
Home Automation for Seniors
Seniors and immobile members of your family can easily handle their day-to-day tasks with home automation.
Home automation for seniors helps them, other elderly, and people with disabilities to remain at home, comfortably and safely. From smart video doorbells to remote-controlled lights, you can make the most of these smart devices and features to help seniors in your family.
Smart Door Locks
When it comes to independent living for seniors and family members with disabilities, smart door locks are a must. They’re the most critical tools to protect your home. With smart door locks, you can control all the doors in your home no matter where you are. Not only this but you can also create multiple door passcodes for caregivers and the other members of your family.
Smart Doorbells
With smart doorbells, you don’t need to worry about home deliveries when you’re not at home. The senior members of your family can use smart doorbells equipped with video surveillance, microphones, and speakers to communicate with visitors and delivery agents. If you have people with hearing disabilities at home, you can set up vibrational alerts on their smartphones to alert when someone is at the door.
Automatic Medicine Dispensers
Automatic medicine dispensers ensure the seniors and elderly in your family follow all the medication per the doctor’s prescription. The dispenser also alerts you of missed or skipped medication.
Automatic Turn-Off Devices
With automatic turn-off devices, you don’t need to worry about seniors and immobile family members leaving the stove or other appliances on after use. These smart devices come with automatic switch-off features such as motion sensors and timers. You can set a timer per your requirements and the stove will automatically power off accordingly.
Wi-Fi Equipped Refrigerators
Wi-Fi-enabled refrigerators maintain a record of your groceries and alert nearby grocery stores when items go out of stock. You can also view the items in your refrigerator using your smartphone.
Smart Lights and Switches
Now you don’t need to worry about seniors and the elderly wandering around your home in the dark. They can control the lights in your home with their smartphone or voice commands.
Smart Thermostats
You can pre-program smart thermostats in your home to adjust the temperatures both inside and outside your home when you are not around. Most smart thermostats comprise LCD touch screens and can be controlled with voice commands.
Object Finders/Key Finders
If you have seniors suffering from Alzheimer’s, dementia, or mental impairment, at home, you can make the most of object finders, especially key finders, to help them track their belongings when they are alone. Most smart object finders are two-piece systems where one piece is attached to the objects they lose track of the most and the other is placed with them.
Medical Assistance and Independence for Seniors
Irrespective of age, we all love and strive for independence. Since childhood, the concept of independence is instilled in us and the desire to be independent grows with age. The importance of being independent is threefold for seniors. Independence for seniors is sometimes the only thing that they feel can control their life. Not only this but for them, independence also comes with a sense of achievement. Here are some benefits of independence for seniors:
- Helps them maintain both mental and physical balance and strength
- Provides them with a sense of purpose in life
- Aids with memory skills
- Helps them maintain their sense of self in their environment
A personal medical emergency response or health alarm system can provide you with the peace of mind that medical assistance is just a button-press away when seniors or immobile family members are alone at home. Whether it is a fall, fire, or intrusion, these systems come in handy when seniors or immobile family members need immediate help.
An excellent example of a personal health alarm system is Libris 2. It allows for two-way voice communication to the central station via the push of a button worn on a pendant around your neck, on a belt, etc. It also has fall detection to automatically dispatch medical emergency staff when a fall is detected.
As already mentioned above, you can easily find a variety of voice-command-enabled smart devices for seniors. They’re helpful for seniors and immobile family members with memory issues, low vision, difficulty with motor tasks, and so on.
At ProTech Security, we have a strong history of experience, innovation, and customer service. The ProTech Security Advantage is more than 35 years of service in Northeast Ohio and a strong commitment to providing quality, cost-effective protection for homes, businesses, educational institutions, and government facilities. To see what ProTech Security can do for you, contact us today.
