Checking in on Elderly Residents

I was reading through a discussion about how there are incidents of someone dying in a home and unfortunately, nobody found them for a while. Well, someone mentioned an ingenious idea on this front, and maybe a way to even save a life of someone who maybe has fallen and can't get to a phone:

I'm actually working for a company developing a solution intending to prevent these types of incidents. Water usage and other things are tracked in the apartment of an elderly person living alone, if they do not use water for an X amount of time, a warning is sent out and someone checks in on them.
It's intended to allow people to live at home for longer with increased security.

That is such a brilliant idea, and I hope it saves some lives!

Source

If residents can sign up for the service so not all residents are under the program, it might work better. How long would they go before checking on them?

We had a resident pass away in her apartment. Found her 4 days later because someone came to check on her when she didn't show up for work for a couple of days. She fell.

It turned out to be very complicated. No will, no close relatives. It cost us a bundle!! Advice: Not only have an emergency contact on the application, but also have "closet living relative" in case of death.

I'm not sure about timing. I think we would have to imagine that it would work well for trip and fall cases but probably not something like heart attacks, as the time frame would just be too slow. Maybe no water usage after one day would flag the system? I don't think someone would pass after one day, so that would give time to save them without too many false flags...

Sandy,

We also have a separate addendum that all leaseholders sign, giving whomever they designate the authorization to remove belongings from the unit (along with their contact info)in the event of death or other catastrophic event. Having been in the position a couple of times in the past where we've had a unit tied up in probate because of belongings when a resident passed... it's been a wonderful thing to have.

Brent,

I would imagine you'd absolutely have to have some sort of waiver or release signed by the resident, giving permission to enter the unit. Does resident or management have the ability to suspend notifications for vacations, etc? Does the unit have to be submetered or individually metered? Ever the realist (or pessimist, I suppose), I just picture a few ways this could go very wrong.

I agree Amanda. One other would be to hold the community liable if contact is not made. I can see a situation where a flag is created but missed, and then the community could be seen as liable for the death in some way.

It's not just about our elderly residents. Anyone can have an unknown to the office health issue that may cause the person to die. Nothing you put into place is going to prevent that because death can happen in minutes unless there is an emergency alert in the apartment that summons first responders. However, I really, really think our industry should have some measure of determining a possible problem. Waiting until you have to do a welfare check or until someone didn't pay rent is almost always too late. The worst day ever for me was finding a student dead in her apartment over spring break. I will never "get over it" although I have made peace with the tragic loss.