10 Helpful Security Tips for Seniors

While it is under­stand­able that seniors would want to remain in their own homes for as long as pos­si­ble, it can be hard on their chil­dren, who wor­ry that some­thing will hap­pen while they are alone. Luck­i­ly there are many ways to increase the safe­ty and secu­ri­ty of a senior’s home so that they can con­tin­ue to live in com­fort with­out wor­ry­ing their chil­dren.

1. Use an emer­gency pen­dant

One of the best ways to help an elder­ly par­ent remain inde­pen­dent is to invest in an emer­gency pen­dant.

Tied to a mon­i­tored secu­ri­ty sys­tem in the home, these pen­dants can be worn on the wrist or around the neck and pro­vide your old­er par­ents with an imme­di­ate con­nec­tion to emer­gency per­son­nel should any­thing hap­pen. Many also include fall detec­tion, track­ing move­ment and send­ing help if a fall is sensed.

2. Get a dog or cat 

Hav­ing a pet in the house can make a liv­ing alone more com­fort­able and less stress­ful and is an excel­lent way to dis­suade poten­tial thieves who hate deal­ing with noisy pets. Even if they do not feel like tak­ing care of a pet or are sim­ply unable to, plac­ing a sign in your front win­dow warn­ing peo­ple of your big dog can help pre­vent oppor­tunis­tic bur­glars.

3. Know your neigh­bours 

It’s always a good idea to get to know your neigh­bours when liv­ing alone. Not only can they help you with a cup of sug­ar when you need it, but they will keep a clos­er eye on your prop­er­ty if they know you and help you out in an emer­gency.

4. Always have emer­gency info handy 

Hav­ing all your required emer­gency infor­ma­tion in one cen­tral loca­tion in the house can be a big help when call­ing for assis­tance for a senior.

5. Ask for help 

Most acci­dents occur in the home and often because an elder­ly per­son tried to do some­thing they shouldn’t have done alone, like mov­ing a large or heavy piece of fur­ni­ture or try­ing to reach some­thing that is too high up on a shelf. Ask for help when required to pre­vent seri­ous injuries.

6. Fake it 

Look­ing like you are not alone can be a pow­er­ful tool when con­front­ed with poten­tial­ly dan­ger­ous sit­u­a­tions. If the door­bell rings when you are not expect­ing some­one, call loud­ly, “I’ll get it,” as you walk to the door. You may feel sil­ly, but a poten­tial crim­i­nal may think twice before try­ing to enter your home.

7. Have a safe­ty bud­dy 

Seniors who live alone should have a safe­ty bud­dy they talk to every day simul­ta­ne­ous­ly. If they do not hear from you, they should be instruct­ed to reach out and ensure every­thing is okay.

8. Install out­door motion sen­sor lights

Motion sen­sor lights are a mas­sive help in dis­suad­ing oppor­tunis­tic thieves who will think twice about try­ing to enter your home once bathed in bright light.

9. Have a friend around when expect­ing work­ers 

If you are expect­ing a vis­it from a plumber, cable repair man, or anoth­er work­er, have a friend or fam­i­ly mem­ber come by and vis­it with you. This will make you less of a tar­get for unscrupu­lous repair­men who may be scop­ing the place out.

10. Guard your keys

Pro­tect­ing your keys is always essen­tial for home secu­ri­ty, espe­cial­ly liv­ing alone. If you lose your keys, be sure to change the locks as soon as pos­si­ble and nev­er write your address or name on your keys in case some­one else gets their hands on them.

Per­son­al secu­ri­ty does get more dif­fi­cult as we age, but as long as you take these steps towards safe­ty, you’ll nev­er be left com­plete­ly help­less. For more infor­ma­tion about how you can pro­tect your­self, your home, or that of your senior par­ents, con­tact PROTECTION PLUS ® today!