Familiarity with an environment contributes towards a person feeling secure and confident. However, over a period of time people often accumulate a lot of clutter that can increase risk. By simplifying and organising your belongings, the home can become a much easier place to live independently. For a start keep regularly used items close to hand and remove items that are no longer used. Keep essential things where they can be seen to act as a visual prompt – for example medication and house keys. Basic tips include:

This section includes pill and medicine organisers, storage boxes for medication and emergency medical information storage devices. Gas alarms can also be linked to telecare alarm systems. These may be appropriate for individuals who live on their own and may not remember what the gas alarm is for if it goes off. Some of the medication reminders on our list have a monthly fee, which we’ve indicated where applicable.

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Tablets can be transferred into a pill or dosette box, a compartmentalised box marked with dosage times. Boxes have a flip lid or a sliding lid that should be easier to open than a pill bottle. The empty compartment provides a reminder that the dose has been taken.

Use equipment that is designed to provide support, such as grab rails and walking aids, rather than leaning on fixtures, such as door handles and towel rails; Opening the door to strangers can be risky. A door viewer, a chain or intercom (see below) can provide a way of identifying the caller before the door is opened fully. Memory prompt sensor devices that give a recorded warning could be triggered as you approach the door from inside. For example, it could automatically remind you: 'Put your safety chain on before you open your door to a caller'.There are many reasons why you may feel the need to move and walk about more than usual. These may include a response to anxiety, to relieve pain or discomfort or becoming confused about where you are. This may result in you walking from an area of relatively low risk to an area of high risk, possibly getting lost or disorientated, especially at night. There may be safety risks associated with going into certain areas of your home alone, particularly if you experience difficulty when walking such as limited balance, for example out of the bedroom onto the landing where there is a risk of falling down the stairs. That technological solutions may be installed without fully involving or obtaining the informed consent of the individual/s involved. This can be particularly relevant when the equipment is used to support individuals with conditions such as dementia. Have a central point of reference, for example a notice board or white board, on which a weekly plan can be displayed and where you can post reminders.

Features: We looked for products that serve different needs, varying from simple reminder tools to full service pharmacy needs. Induction hobs may be worth considering as they often have a timer built in and they only heat the pan, which means you can touch the adjacent surface without burning yourself. Rather than the cooking surface heating up, a magnetic field is created between the pan base and an element underneath the glass top. However, the saucepans you use need to be induction compatible and induction hobs may not be suitable if you have a pacemaker fitted because of the powerful electromagnetic field.

Features of the Tab Timer Pill Reminder

You can use this method to set up to eight consecutive alarms if required. I hope this helps. As I say, if it doesn't please do get in touch so we can assist you further.

If a telecare smoke alarm is not installed as part of your telecare system, you should still have at least one working standard smoke alarm in your home which will sound an alarm if it detects smoke but these will not automatically alert your help centre. Organizers that come with limited sections and force you to mix multiple pills together can undermine the purpose of a pillbox. The most helpful organizers allow you to dissect and separate your medication based on time, day, and week. Before considering high-tech equipment to prompt, warn or trigger alarms, consider simple solutions that may remove risk. Some hazards cannot be anticipated, for example the light bulb blowing when you are walking upstairs. Others are more apparent and it is therefore possible to reduce risk or get rid of the hazard completely. So, for example: Feeling a little lost about how to choose the best pill dispenser? Here are a few things to consider:Caregivers can enable extra safety settings on the smart dispenser and app to limit how much medication can be dispensed. In the event of a power failure, each Hero dispenser has a safety key that can be used to open the device manually. Medicine dispensers and applicators are designed to assist a user to take or apply medicines. This includes devices to assist with using an inhaler or dispensing eye drops. Leaking gas is dangerous. Ultimately, leaking gas can build up to dangerous levels which can result in explosions. Many newer cookers will automatically cut the gas off if the flames are not ignited, but older models may not have this safety feature. One option to manage the danger of un-ignited gas is to fit a natural gas alarm (not to be confused with carbon monoxide alarms) that will sound when the sensor detects gas. Some only sound an alarm, so someone must recognise what the alarm is for and act on it. Others actually turn off the gas supply. Think about your needs. Do you need to be reminded to take pills multiple times per day? Do you need something that will hold a lot of pills or just something that’s easy to open? Taking the time to think about how you plan to use your pill dispenser will help point you in the right direction.