Míša Procházková, minister of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church
I know many families
who care for their parents, where the parents want to live on their own in their own house, and the youngsters come visit them regularly. My husband and I are in a similar situation, so I know what I‘m talking about. You can be on the phone as much as you like, and something can still go wrong. We come visit, everything‘s okay, and as soon as we leave, Mum or Dad fall over, break their hip and aren‘t able to reach the mobile. They‘re in shock. Help is nowhere to be reached. That‘s our nightmare. Also, mobiles are too complicated for some older people, they have too many buttons. And in dire circumstances...
The solution:
the small, clever Senior Inspect box with one button which you can hang from your neck, wear on your wrist or put in your shirt pocket. It has its own SIM card, functions through an operator. It calls to the dispatching centre to say that the client is not moving. The dispatcher calls the contact person (persons, ambulance etc.). This box can get even cleverer with additional modules – it can communicate with digital pressure sensors or glucometers and send this information to the dispatching centre. It has an in-built GPS function, so the senior will be located even if he falls during a walk in the woods.
The senior has much more freedom, he doesn‘t have to be afraid to go mushroom picking– if something were to happen, the box would send a message. You can be sure they‘ll find you if something goes wrong. And because he‘s secured in such a way, most often nothing will happen – which is a good thing.
You can either buy your parents a box like that for 4,000 crowns, or rent it for three hundred. The monthly dispatching fee is 399 crowns. I think it‘s worth it – you have the certainty that if your Mum or Dad were to, God forbid, hurt themselves somehow, they won‘t be lying somewhere helpless and in despair, they won‘t be counting every minute till you come for your regular visit...
We aren‘t telepathic. But we do have technology – and in this case, the technology isn‘t spying on you like Big Brother, but it‘s something that can really help. And has helped many times already.
