There is a fine line between being a senior citizen and being elderly. You can still be over 65 years of age and live a healthy and active lifestyle. However, being elderly infers that a person is well over 65 and is in poor health. While medical alert systems are made for all seniors regardless of age, it is people who would be considered elderly who would benefit greatly from alert systems for senior citizens.

The aging process can be slow and painful. Often people are left to deal with it on their own, with no family with which to live and not enough money to enter a nursing home or an assisted living facility. A medical alert for senior citizens could be just what the doctor ordered, or literally what the doctor ordered, for that matter.

The elderly are susceptible to falls. Their strength, balance and eyesight diminish with age, leaving them vulnerable to tumbles. We all know how serious falls can be. If a senior is lucky enough to survive a fall, the after-effects can often prove to be catastrophic, if not even fatal. That’s why an elderly medical alert is a necessity. Sooner is better when it comes to a fall; the sooner a person gets medical treatment after a fall, the more likely they are to survive. If a senior has a medical alert system, all they have to do it press a button on a medical pendant after a fall, and help will be on the way in minutes — potentially life-saving minutes.

Many elderly people are often forgetful. Sometimes they forget to do mundane things like taking out the trash. But more often they forget to do vital things like taking their medication. Some medical alert for seniors have an option to remind a person when they need to take their medication. Again, this is a potentially life-saving function of a medical alarm.

Then there is the loneliness factor. As a person gets up there in years, many of their friends begin to die off, leaving them with no one to whom to turn. While an elderly medical alert is not a friend, it could help a person feel less alone. It is not advisable to press your emergency button just to have someone to talk to, but there is at least one system that has a separate “nurse” button that allows seniors to talk to a nurse and get important health information in the event of a non-emergency. Even if a senior is just feeling a bit lonely, the nurse would be happy to take a few minutes out of his or her day just to provide a friendly voice.

Apart from any specific condition, alert systems for elderly can offer them peace of mind that they are never truly alone, that help is just the press of a button away. Just knowing that can ease the stress of an elderly person. There are enough stresses involved in growing old; if one source of stress could easily be taken away by having a medical alert for senior citizens, doesn’t it just make common sense to do it?