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The Nest Saga, Part II: The #Nest Outdoor Cam

Nest Outdoor Camera

The second piece of Nest equipment I installed was the outdoor camera. Following the instructions included in the box, I installed the camera in less than an hour.

Photo: Nest outdoor camera freshly installedThe reason we got an outdoor camera is because I caught my grandma saying, “Come in!” as soon as she heard a knock at the door, not knowing who it was, and letting people she didn’t remember in her house. One time last summer, I was barbecuing in the back and came in to find some lady in her house. Once I was wise to what was going on, I realized it was an old neighbor of hers. But when the lady walked out the door, my grandma turned to me and asked, “Who was that?”

The first thing we did was practice what to do when someone comes to the door. We have been practicing frequently so that she gets the hang of it. From opening the app when she hears the doorbell or a knock at the door to saying, “Can I help you?” or “You’ll have to come back later when Rachel is here,” we are working on knowing what to do when someone wants to come in.

I created my own Nest account and connected it to hers. Now, any time someone comes to the house or my grandma opens the front door, I get a notification. It gives me great peace of mind that I can tell a random stranger thinking they can prey on her or someone who doesn’t have any business there to go f#@* themselves.

At first, I didn’t think she would like it very much, but one day, her phone died from her watching the camera outside all day. And then I heard her tell someone she knows that I got it for her so she doesn’t have to answer the door if she doesn’t want to. Now, she watches whats happening outside all the time. She knows when someone gets there so she can start heading toward the door to let them in. And I definitely feel safer being able to visibly see who is coming to her door and in and out of her house.

Graphic: Smiley face to left, text to right says, "Smile, you're on camera!"

Do you use an off-shelf system of remote monitoring with someone you care for? Share your experience in the comments!

The Nest Saga, Part I: Installing the #Nest Smart Thermostat

Installing the Nest Learning Thermostat

9 times out of 10 when my grandma was having trouble with the AC/furnace, it was because she didn’t have the thermostat set right. She was constantly testing my patience over the thermostat. Not to mention several falls were caused by sleepy trips to the thermostat in the middle of the night.

I successfully installed the Nest thermostat for my grandma all by myself. Her heater refused to come on after a spell of warm weather. Thinking that the thermostat might be the problem, I seized the opportunity to install the new one. It literally took me less than 30 minutes. Even the technician from Stuck’s Heating and Cooling who visited to fix the furnace after I installed it said I did a good job. (The problem with the furnace was a thermocouple/sensor issue, thank you very much :D)

When I called her to wake her up in the morning a couple days after we installed it, she said she couldn’t get it warm in there. I pulled it up on my phone and she had the AC turned on. I was able to turn the heat on so it could warm back up. It was at that moment I knew that it was worth every penny.

 

Benefits besides peace of mind and cool features I’ve noticed since installing the thermostat: 

  • The Nest thermostat on the wall is easier to use than a standard thermostat (you just turn the temperature up and down) when Grandma forgets to adjust the temperature with her phone
  • The screen on the thermostat lights up when someone gets close to it so you can clearly see what temperature it is set on and what mode it is in.
  • The thermostat tells you how long it is going to take to warm up/cool down to the temperature you have specified
  • Nest sends you a monthly report giving you information about your energy usage at a glance 

 

Photo: Photo of Nest Smart Thermostat turning on!

“Help I’ve Fallen!” Medical Alert Device Roundup

My grandma’s definite chief aim is to stay at home. After several falls upon returning from the skilled nursing facility, I realized that safety was a key factor in my ability to support her wishes.

Graphic: Barbara's Not So Integrated Long Term Support Need schedule, colored in all blue and purple every night and all weekend

Barbara’s Not So Integrated Long Term Support Needs

Standing outside of the hospital, chain-smoking cigarettes while I was on the phone, I had having a ‘Come to Jesus’ with a trusted advisor as my grandma was having her gall bladder removed, we discussed the fact that I could look forward to a few more days of her being away from home, and then we’d be back to reality. Reality at that time looked like the schedule on the right – where she was all by herself most of the time and me providing all of her support. She advised me to make a list of non-negotiables as the person providing 100% of her care before her homecoming.

I thought about what she said and what we needed to do to make Grandma staying at home work. The primary problem at the time was frequent falling. My grandma would fall and then crawl to the phone. She would then call random numbers in her phone in hopes she could get someone to come help her up, and she was not calling me. After the last hospitalization, people started coming out of the woodwork at her church to tell me that she had called them to help her up.

I realized that a medical alert device would be a good solution for her after a conversation I had with a colleague of mine who I found out was supporting her dad to live at home. Before this conversation, I never would have considered it for my own family. The power of peer support is real, people.

When I sat down and thought about it, I realized that a medical alert system would:

  1. provide a way of calling for help immediately if she fell so she didn’t have to crawl the phone (potentially worsening any injury incurred from the fall) and notify me each time she fell.
  2. prevent her from frantically picking people out of the contacts in her phone, thereby potentially embarrassing us or raising red flags, since there are designated people who are called when the button is pressed.
  3. give me comfort leaving her by herself, knowing that if she fell, she could call for help.

So came my first demand: We were going to start using technology to help me ensure her safety. At the time, I only mentioned a medical alert system, but in my mind, I knew that one day, I was going to turn her house into a complete smart home.

It took a a few weeks and a couple falls where she had to crawl to the phone before she agreed to the Medical Alert, and a few months more passed before she even used the Medical Alert when she fell, despite practicing and constant reminders.

 

Below are the major Medical Alert systems we looked into and my notes about each. All of them have different prices, packages, and promotions. They all offer additional security services, as well, like fall detection and mobile alert devices for when someone leaves their home.

Life Alert

Medical Alert

Phillips LifeLine

One Call Alert
How it Works: They provide a base unit, a pendant or bracelet. The system works the same as the others. When the button on the pendant/bracelet is pressed, the system contacts a call center, which then notifies help (your personal contacts or emergency responders).

 

Pricing: There is no pricing information and I lost my notes, so here is what is publicly available:  Equipment and shipping for the basic Life Alert system will run you $95 – $198. The monthly fee for the basic Life Alert system $49.95.  You must agree to a three-year contract, but you can cancel at any time.

 

Customer Service: ★★★
The representative answered my questions and as knowledgeable but  a little pushy. I felt like the representative I spoke to was kind of critical about our situation when I didn’t want to sign up. I docked them a star because their website is out of date and cluttered and  does not have transparent pricing information.

 

 How it Works: Medical Alert sends you a base unit (wireless option) that you put in a central location of your home/close to common fall areas. Then, they give you a bracelet and a pendant. You can purchase (or receive free, depending on promotions) a key box to store an extra key in a private location outside of the house for emergency responders and people you have specified to help in the event of a fall to access.

You can choose a landline or wireless option. Either way, when the button is pressed, the unit connects with the Medical Alert call center (which I think is in New York), and they then call the people on your phone tree or emergency responders (if there is no response from the person or the phone tree).

 

Pricing: The equipment is normally $95, but the company often offers discounts to provide it for free. There is no activation fee. There is no contract for the service.

For the wireless option, the annual plans go from $32-$38 a month, billed annually, every six months, or monthly.

I’m sure we signed up under a promotion, so our investment in this system was very low.

 

Customer Service: ★★★★★
The gentleman I spoke with was very pleasant and answered all my questions and explained the system factually.  I even was able to email him with questions after our initial conversation and signing up. They check on your to make sure that everything is working out for you periodically, as well. The equipment has worked perfectly and I have not had to contact customer service with any problems.

 This was the personal alert system recommended by the nursing facility. Just one year ago, they did not offer a wireless option. Now, in 2017, they have a landline and a wireless option.

How it works: They provide a base unit, a pendant or bracelet. The system works the same as the others. When the button on the pendant/bracelet is pressed, the system contacts a call center, which then notifies help (your personal contacts or emergency responders).

 

Pricing: The wireless option is $41.95 a month (inclusive of the equipment, meaning there is no separate fee for the unit). There is a $50 activation fee. Shipping is $19.95 They charge 30 bucks for the key lockbox.

At this current moment, for Mother’s Day, they are running a promotion that would knock a few bucks off of your

Customer Service: ★★★★
The representative answered my questions and as knowledgeable and was personable. I give Phillips 4 stars because they clearly saw there was a need/demand for a wireless option and they now offer it.

 I picked this brochure up at Price Chopper while refilling Grandma’s prescriptions. I didn’t even look into it after the first three, because I had never heard of it, it wasn’t created by a major company, and honestly, by that point I was tired of talking to people on the phone.

How it works: They provide a base unit, a pendant or bracelet. The system works the same as the others. When the button on the pendant/bracelet is pressed, the system contacts a call center, which then notifies help (your personal contacts or emergency responders).

 

Pricing: For the wireless, the annual plans go from $35-$40 a month, billed annually, quarterly, or monthly (inclusive of equipment). There is no activation fee.

 

Customer Service: N/A – Did not contact but their website is sweet!

Overall winner: After investigating a few different systems, we went with Medical Alert. We got the wireless system and are billed quarterly. We chose Medical Alert because their pricing was a little more competitive and my personal experience with the sales rep was more pleasant than the others. Also, in hindsight – they sent both a pendant and a bracelet, because we were undecided at the time. Grandma changed her mind about the bracelet and wanted to start wearing the pendant, so I was pleased that they sent both.

Even though price was a factor, I want to assure you that having peace of mind is priceless. I encourage you to do own your research for which system will work best for your particular situation. There is a compendium of reviews of many different systems out there on the market at http://www.medicalalertadvice.com/reviews/.

 

AARP has the following tips for selecting a medical alert device:

  1. Look at several systems before making a decision.
  2. Compare costs. Charges for equipment and services typically include a setup fee ranging from $50 to $200 and a monthly fee ranging from $30 to $60. Most companies lease their equipment; a few require purchase. Private insurance or Medicare generally does not cover the devices.
  3. Read through the contract carefully and understand the cancellation process.
  4. Make sure the provider offers 24/7 customer care (preferably a call center) and technical support.
  5. Ask how often and by what procedures they test their system.
  6. Ask for a 30-day free or money back trial.

Full article: http://www.aarp.org/health/doctors-hospitals/info-11-2010/medical_alert_systems.html

 

If you have used or looked into the services listed above, or maybe some that aren’t listed here, feel free to share your experience in the comments!

Using technology to keep Grandma safe

Back when my grandma was in rehabilitation at a nursing facility before she settled at home for good this time, I made a list of demands. As the person primarily responsible for providing her care, I needed help from the outside to help her stay at home before I completely lost my mind.

I had two main demands:

  1. We were going to look into finding someone we could pay to spend a little time with her during the day so she had some companionship and a ride and assistance at appointments as well as help her carry out some daily tasks, like cleaning and cooking.
  2. We were going to start using technology to help me ensure her safety. At the time, I only mentioned a medical alert device like Life Alert, but in my mind, I knew that one day, I wanted to use the off-shelf technology that is quickly allowing everyday people to turn their houses into smart homes.

We got her first smart phone last summer. Even though I went in with an iPhone in mind, the T-Mobile rep sold Grandma this cheap Samsung Grand Prime phone, a cheap Galaxy knockoff because we could flip it into “easy mode.” My grandma had a lot of trouble getting used to smart phone technology, mainly the touch screen aspect of it. I knew that convincing her to technologize her life was not going to be an easy feat.

 

Convincing Grandma

Instead of describing the cool things she could do with all of this technology, I laid it out into a proposal for her, complete with prices and why I thought she should get the technology in question.

View the full proposal

Recently, the screen on the phone was cracked (from someone– not me– haphazardly throwing her walker in the back seat with her phone in the pocket of her old walker caddy). I used that to my advantage and took her to buy a new and better phone. We needed a better phone to implement the Nest suite. There was no using Nest in easy mode using the Grand Prime.

 

Getting Grandma an iPhone

I am not an Apple user myself, but I have owned an iPad for five years now. I wanted her to get an iPhone for two reasons:

  1.  Apple products are intuitive and easy to use, and
  2. As I looked around at my grandma’s friends and fellow church-goers, I noticed a lot of them owned iPhones. I started seeing visions of Grandma Facetiming with her friends and getting help from Siri.

My grandma is still learning how to use her iPhone, but I can assure you, since we switched to iOS, I have received a lot less complaints about not understanding how to use her phone.

 

Help! I’ve Fallen…

It took a few weeks and a couple falls where she had to crawl to the phone before she agreed to the Medical Alert, and a few months more passed before she even used the Medical Alert when she fell, despite practice and constant reminders, but we have been using it successfully for over a year now.

 

Making Grandma’s Home Smart

Why did we choose Nest? Well, the answer is pretty simple. I did not want to have separate apps and devices, when I could buy into one suite of apps and equipment. Sure, I’ve heard good things about the Ring Video Doorbell and the Peep Smart Doorbell, but viewing and managing the cameras  and thermostat in one place was the major factor in deciding on Nest. We ordered them all at once, and I installed them one-by-one over the following weeks.

 

Follow along with me in future posts for the specific insights on selecting a medical alert system and installing the Nest thermostat, outdoor and inside cameras.

Grandma’s Kick Ass Walker Caddy

One of my grandma’s most recent falls that forced me to leave work in the middle of the day involved her trying to carry too many things in the kitchen. One of the first things I did when she fell in the kitchen was order a walker tray off of Amazon Prime. However, in this particular instance, she was not using the walker tray. I decided to make her a walker caddy that had extra pockets to replace the makeshift Lowe’s waist apron turned walker caddy (which coincidentally enough, was interfering with the proper alignment of the walker tray), so she would literally not have any excuse to carry anything and focus on walking safely through her house.

She has gotten a lot of compliments on it, and I’ve had other people ask me to make one for them. But most importantly, she is no longer trying to carry multiple while she is walking, which is a huge fall risk for her.

The action shot:

Photo: Walker Caddy sewed by yours truly

H/T to Melly Sews for this fantastic Walker Caddy Tutorial that guided me right through it: http://mellysews.com/2014/07/walker-caddy-tutorial.html

Disclaimer: This blog post contains affiliate links from Amazon. If you use them, I might be rewarded credit or a commission of the sale. Please note that I only recommend tools that I personally use and love and I always have my readers’ best interest at heart.

@takingcareofgrandma