Senior Safety and Connectedness Survey 2022

Medical alert systems provide a vital service to U.S. adults nationwide. Mostly utilized by aging adults, the worldwide Medical Alert Systems industry generated $6.47 billion in 2020 and is anticipated to generate $20.95 billion by 2030, based on a recent report by Allied Market Research.

In September 2022, U.S. News & World Report surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults to learn more about their feelings of safety related to medical alert systems. Of the sample size surveyed, 40% of respondents are adults who either own a medical alert system for seniors and wear it or have it installed at home, and 60% have a parent who has a medical alert system for seniors, and their parent wears it or has it installed at home. We researched the perceived feelings of safety medical alert systems provide users and their children, seniors’ feelings of connectedness to their neighbors, how they like to interact with family members, and more.

Medical alert systems, also referred to as a private emergency response system, serve two primary functions. The primary is to offer users with assistance in emergency situations. The second is to offer users, their family and friends, and caregivers with the reassurance that help is obtainable if and when it might be needed. In truth, the overwhelming majority of survey respondents (93%) say they feel safer using their medical alert system.

Making the choice to adopt a medical alert system could be a difficult one for senior adults. On one hand, some may feel embarrassed to wear a medical alert device as a result of a perceived stigma or feel that they simply don’t need one. Then again, a medical alert system can provide peace of mind and a way of security for seniors who want to live independently and their families.

In truth, nearly the entire survey respondents who report using a medical alert system (96%), say that it brings them some relief or reassurance. Greater than two thirds (69%) of senior medical alert users surveyed say they’ve received help due to their medical alert system being activated.

Medical devices also provide peace of mind to the family, friends, and caregivers of seniors. Whether or not they are concerned about home safety, mobility issues, illness, or one other issue, 98% of youngsters of senior medical alert system users say they feel their parents are overall safer as a result of their device. What’s more, 62% of youngsters of senior medical alert system users within the U.S. say that their parent has received help at the least once due to their in-home monitoring system being activated.

Only 7% of U.S. survey respondents who use a medical alert system for seniors say they made that call on their very own. The remainder were convinced by those they know and trust essentially the most. Nearly all of survey respondents (36%) report that it was the influence of a spouse or better half that helped them make this decision, followed by a physician or health care employee (22%), other relatives (19%), and friends (13%).

Along with relations, seniors who utilize medical alert devices incessantly depend on their neighbors for assistance when in need. About 83% of U.S. senior medical alert users say they might feel comfortable reaching out to their neighbors in a medical emergency and 67% say their neighbor(s) sometimes or recurrently help them.

One in every of the outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic was a rise within the number of individuals staying and dealing from home as a result of stay-at-home mandates geared toward reducing the frequency of physical contact and subsequent transmission of the virus between people. This overtime at home provided a possibility for neighbors, including senior residents, to get to know one another higher, even from a secure distance. In response to our survey results, 71% of senior medical alert users say they feel the pandemic has brought them closer with their neighbors.

Although the recent pandemic created opportunities to foster latest relationships, there continues to be a portion of senior adults who feel disconnected from their neighbors. About 80% of senior medical alert users say they want they knew their neighbor(s) higher.

Being connected to a medical alert system is just not the one way older Americans need to stay connected. Our survey found that 41% of U.S. senior medical alert users say they generally or often feel lonely. In-person visits are their preferred solution to stay in contact with family and friends (32%), followed by phone calls (26%).

When the pandemic caused many families to forgo in-person visits with their family members, technology became a lifeline for a lot of seniors. Two-thirds of U.S. adults aged 65 and older say they’re web users (75%), based on the Pew Research Center. And 61% of older adults owned a smartphone in 2021, up from 13% in 2012.

With all that access, it’s not surprising that our survey found seniors are also using video calls (17%), text messaging (12%) and social media (12%) to remain connected to their family members. When asked in a multiple-selection query which social media platform they like to remain connected with family and friends, 75% of senior medical alert users say Facebook is the most well-liked social media channel, followed by 48% for Instagram. About 37% prefer Twitter while 26% use TikTok to attach with latest people.

The survey results are clear: An awesome majority of senior medical alert users and their children feel safer knowing that they wear one or have it installed at home.

Whether you or your family members currently use a medical alert device, there’s a very good possibility that somebody you already know will need one in the long run. In america, the population aged 65 and older increased from 40 million in 2009 to 54 million in 2019, representing a 36% increase based on the Administration for Community Living, an operating division of the usDepartment of Health and Human Services. By 2040, there will likely be about 81 million seniors, greater than twice as many as in 2000.

Our 360 Reviews team used the third-party survey platform Pollfish to conduct a national survey of 1,000 U.S. adults who either own a medical alert system for seniors, and wear it or have it installed at home (40% of respondents) or have a parent who has a medical alert system for seniors, and their parent wears it or has it installed at home (60% of respondents). People identifying as female comprised 57% of respondents, while those identifying as male represented the remaining 43%. Responses were then weighted so as to reflect the present U.S. population by achieving equal distribution with known population characteristics.