Story
Adam's story
Adam·Child of an aging adult·3 min read
“I'm a very small family. My mom is kind of all I have.” Adam's mom lives alone in her apartment. He is on his own. There is no sibling to split the checking with, no one else to take the call. This is his story, in his own words.
Adam's family used an earlier sensor from Pontosense, the company behind Silvie.
The drive over
Before the sensors, an unanswered call had exactly one solution.
“If I can't get ahold of her for something, the only solution is literally for me to leave work and go over and check on her.”
The bracelet that wouldn't work
The first idea was actually hers: one of those life alert bracelets from the TV ads she had seen for years. Adam had a practical concern.
“If you fall and you're unconscious, you're not going to hit the button, are you? So how are we going to know that you're on the floor?”
A button only works if your parent can press it. After a bad fall, they may not be able to.
Privacy versus safety
“It's stressful taking care of an aging parent,” Adam says. But a camera was never on the table: “Putting a camera in the apartment was never really something that came up. It's like balancing privacy versus safety.”
What made the difference for his family was that the sensors are not invasive. In his words: “It's not like I was sitting with a monitor, looking at her walking around the apartment.” No camera. No microphone. She keeps her home and her routines.
An easy install
Inside the box: the sensor and the mount, with the option to screw it in.
“Because my mom's in an apartment, we're just using the 3M sticky component. But it's definitely an easy process.”
A normal conversation again
The biggest change for Adam is what he and his mom talk about now.
“It gives her that peace of mind again. We can actually have a normal conversation about life and not just about health related issues.”
Watch Adam tell it
Fall detection without a camera
How radar catches a fall with nothing to wear, and where pendants and watches fall short.
What is fall detection, and how does it work?
Pendants, wearables, cameras, and radar, how each detects a fall, what happens after one, and how to choose.
Have a story to share?
If Silvie has changed things for your family, email us at ask@silvie.com.
Get the Kit