Okay, there are a lot of results, but most of them have nothing to do with Medipendant.

I followed one link, to a site called ComplaintBoard.com, and found the following information: “There are no complaints using term medipendant have been found.”

Apart from being somewhat ungrammatical, that’s reassuring.

But if you go to Amazon there are a couple of Medipendant reviews that might give you concern.

In one, the reviewer had trouble getting a refund, but she liked the way the unit worked. (The first unit that she was shipped had a problem, but the company immediately replaced it. She says, “Customer service sent out a new one very quickly. With the working unit, I tested the range and was very surprised how well it worked.”)

I don’t know the details of her billing dispute, but I do know that sometimes things get lost in accounting departments. It can be incredibly frustrating for you as a consumer, of course. I noticed she wrote, “The excuse was, “We screwed up again.” ” I want to quibble with that a bit. If that’s what they said, they didn’t really make an excuse at all. They acknowledged that they had made a mistake and they didn’t try to cover it up.

Medipendant makes a strong statement that you can cancel anytime, and you even get back any money you’ve given them for future months.

The other review that might give you pause is the one by Irviner. He complains a lot about battery life and the difficulty in changing the battery. But notice that he bought the unit almost two years ago (from early 2012). The unit has been redesigned since this time not only to make the battery easier to change, but also to make the battery last longer. Please see my Medipendant review page for details on battery life. In normal use the batteries last a year now.

I’ll also note that if you buy direct from Medipendant they will ship the unit with a replacement battery, and they send you free replacement batteries for as long as you have the unit.

The system detects a low battery and tells you to replace it. If you don’t replace it, the unit notifies the monitoring station, and Medipendant will call you!

They’ll also replace the unit if anything goes wrong with it.

In summary, I don’t think these negative reviews are actually anything to be worried about. The product has been improved, and I want to give them the benefit of the doubt for a bad customer service experience.

See more information about why I like the Medipendant.

Getting up out of a favorite chair can be a struggle for the elderly.

Solutions come in two varieties.

The first is a so-called “lift cushion” which is a seat cushion that has been designed to gently lift you to your feet, either by spring action or by an electric motor.

These are affordable and can be used on pretty much any chair.

The spring-loaded ones store up the energy from someone sitting down on them, and when you want to stand up you move a lever and the spring slowly releases.

The second is a “lift chair” which is an actual chair designed to help you get to your feet. An ejector chair, if you will.

Here’s the link to view all the different options.

Photo by Grim Santo

The solution is more light.

But sometimes people are reluctant to turn on the lights. Maybe they’re worried it’ll disturb someone else in the house. Or they’re just not in the habit.

Or else the stairs aren’t rigged with two light switches — one at the top and one at the bottom.

Shine light on dark and treacherous stairs with motion-sensing LED nightlights.

They only turn on when a person comes within 10 feet or so. And they’re battery-powered, so there’s no switch to worry about.

These motion-sensing lights last for thousands of activations on a single set of batteries. Put one at the top of the stairs to illuminate the top step, one at the landing, and another at the bottom to shine light on the transition from stairs to floor (a surprising hotspot of falls).

Because they’re battery-operated they’re simple to install.

They come in a set of three.

Here’s what they look like up close:

Check them out on Amazon.

When you click through, you’ll see that page also has some styles that are hard-wired. Depending on your situation, hard-wiring could be a better option. But for most of us these battery-operated ones will be perfect.

The photo of the cat on the staircase is by Bob Jagendorf. It doesn’t really relate to the topic, but I really liked it. And notice that although the staircase is a disaster, at least it has a railing…

The easiest and cheapest solution is to adjust the hot water heater so it’s set at a maximum of 120 degrees. Read the manual for the hot water heater carefully, and follow all safety precautions before opening it up. There’s a lot of voltage in those things. (You might want to have a plumber do this.)

The next line of defense is an anti-scald faucet or showerhead. These devices automatically detect water temperatures that are unsafe and shut the water flow down to a trickle. I don’t actually know how they do it…

I like the idea of doing both. Turn down the water heater (saves money and the environment as well) but also install the hot stop showerhead in case something goes wrong with the water heater. (I once had a hot water heater with a malfunctioning thermostat. It sometimes got extra hot and sometimes not hot at all.)

Here are a variety of anti-scald faucets and showerheads on Amazon.

Is this an issue you’re worried about? What other solutions have you found?

Photo: Courtesy Kreative Eye Photography via Flickr (creative commons license)

Can you think of a worse place to start a magic carpet ride?

Heck, even I find it treacherous.

I taped it down once, but then my parents got a new rug from somewhere and swapped it out for the old one (actually, the “new” one is older, and it really is a nice little rug). Somewhere in the process the tape disappeared. Now it’s a deathtrap again.

Next visit I’m headed back to the hardware store for more grip tape and sticky rug pads.

I like to use Rug Gripper tape when I can. This is super-sticky tape that comes on a roll about 5 inches wide. It’s got some kind of Velcro-like pattern on it that sticks really well to the underside of your rug, and the other side sticks to the floor. You can stick down the edges of the rug, and the middle, too. The advantage is that the rug is very secure. The disadvantage over no-slip pads is that you can’t easily reposition the rug.

See the rug gripper tape on Amazon.

Your other option is a no-slip rug pad. These are designed to be cut just a tiny bit smaller than the throw rug. They grip the floor and the rug, keeping it in place. My personal opinion is that these work best for larger rugs. For little ones like the 2×3 my parents have at the top of their stairs, I like the sticky tape.

See rug gripper pads on Amazon.

Have you had a battle over throw rugs? Feel like they reproduce like rabbits every time you leave your parents’ house? Sound off in the comments.

Photo by New Internationalist

Photo by Eva Blue via Flickr

Go to the doctor.

Seriously. That’s it.

Get a complete physical, and set up a regular schedule of periodic checkups.

Many falls and accidents are caused by physical problems that come along with age: loss of vision, hearing, balance, etc. And falls can be made worse by conditions like osteoporosis.

A good physical exam can reveal small problems as they are starting. This increases your chances of being able to do something about it, and it also allows you to create a safer home environment by designing around the developing problem.

Sometimes our loved-one has been covering up symptoms our of pride or fear. This can make it tough to get them to the doctor. Trust between yourself and your parent is paramount.

Action Plan:

If your loved-one doesn’t see the doctor regularly, talk to them about going more often. Gently. Remember, their reasons for not going may seem silly to you, but they’re important to them. You may want to consult with anyone else who’s sharing the caregiving task with you, such as your siblings, and even seek professional advice from someone who specializes in eldercare or intra-family communications. (Check with your local senior services agency for recommendations.)

And here’s a joke, for no good reason…

“I told the doctor I broke my leg in two places. He told me to quit going to those places.”

Henny Youngman

More of his jokes at http://funny2.com/henny.htm.

There are also videos of his standup routines from the 1970s on YouTube. Might be fun to share with mom or dad on your next visit…

Have you got a favorite doctor joke? Share it in the comments.

The photo is a picture of a Banksy painting on the side of a building in San Francisco. By Eva Blue.

The quick-quick guide

If they fall or have a medical emergency at home, there’s no one there to help them.

You hate the thought of them lying on the floor in pain for days, or dying because they couldn’t get emergency help.

The solution is a medical alert system.

This is a small device you wear or carry that can dial the phone and get help if you get hurt and can’t reach the phone.

So far, so good.

But the minute you start researching these, you’ll realize that it’s one of the most confusing purchases you’ve ever made.

All the manufacturers have different claims. It’s hard to tell who’s telling the truth.

You could easily lose hours of your life researching the topic. And you might not make a better decision.

Here are two ways to make a quick decision.

First, you could go with the nationally known brand that spends the most money on advertising, but then you might get locked into a long contract and your monthly fees will go toward buying more television advertising time.

Second, you can follow the simple recommendations below.

1. If you or your elderly loved one lives in a small home and is inactive, go with a tried and true system like LifeStation.

2. If you’re buying for a more active person, look to the Medipendant, which provides a “talk-through-the-pendant” system so you can have a clear two-way conversation with the monitoring center anywhere in your house and in the yard. Get details on the Medipenant.

Yes, there are dozens of other companies you could investigate, and several more types of systems to learn about.

But you’re in a hurry, so these are two options you can use confidently. Neither one locks you into a long term contract, and their rates are reasonable.

Photo by Casey Marshall

For many of us, these commercials were burned into our brains, not just because we saw them frequently but also because they became an object of humor.

One thing I’ve written about elsewhere is how the very idea of a medical alert rings all those bells about frailty and weakness. These commercials are a big part of that. I notice now that many websites about life alerts show younger and more active people. Buying a life alert is no longer considered only something that really old people do. I guess that’s progress. What do you think? Make a comment below the videos.

And here’s a parody version. Sorry, couldn’t resist.

I recently heard of two situations where an elderly person used their medical alert to summon help when they were the victim of a crime.

In the first case, a woman used her medical alert when her grown daughter was apparently trying to strangle her after an argument about money. She pressed the button and the emergency operator sent the police (even though the daughter apparently tried to talk them out of coming). The medical alert might have saved this woman’s life.

In the second case, an elderly person activated their medical alarm system when they heard someone break into their home. The police came and the woman wasn’t hurt.

The first example speaks to the benefit of having a monitored personal emergency response system, instead of a system that just dials friends & family. That’s because with a monitored system you’re guaranteed to have a trained responder picking up the phone. Imagine if the senior woman had been waiting and waiting while her system dialed several friends and family, none of whom were available.

Want to learn more about medical alerts? Start by downloading my free report, 5 Common Medical Alert Mistakes and How to Avoid Them. Then check out my overview of medical alert systems.

It’s really pretty simple.

Most monitored medical alert systems cost about $30 a month.

What about no-fee or autodialer medical alert systems? These are the ones that dial friends and family instead of a monitoring center. These cost from $100 to $300. The model I like best (Amazon link) goes for around $269.

The reason I like that particular model so much is that it’s got two-way communication through the pendant that you carry around. This means the unit will work when you’re inside the house and also when you’re in the garden.

How to save money on a medical alert:

Saving money on a medical alert depends on what type you’re buying.

With a monitored system you can sometimes save money by paying in advance. For example, if you pay for 12 or 24 months at a time, your cost might go down to $19.99 or $24.99 per month.

Is this worth it? Maybe. Usually you’re locking yourself in for the term of your prepayment. Different vendors have different policies, so be sure to check. You might want to start with the month-to-month price and then after you’re sure you like the system then pay for a chunk of time in advance.

Sometimes you an also save on installation fees if you pay for a few months in advance. But some companies don’t have installation fees at all, so do your research.

The only way to save money on a no-fee medical alert is to spend less money on the unit. You won’t have any ongoing costs for monitoring, so the unit is your only expense.

But in my experience the cheaper units are definitely not as high quality as the better ones. Some of the worst you see don’t even offer real two-way communication. They just dial a number and play a pre-recorded message, then they tie up your phone line for another two minutes or so before the person who just got a scary phone call can call back and talk to you about the problem, if they can even communicate through the base station (mostly these low-end units don’t have a microphone for you to talk to the person who responds).