At the moment he is quite independent and goes off to the pub three lunchtimes a week for his lunch, he gets himself up and will get himself cheese and biscuits. We generally call in most days, but try not to let it become a routine that we then could not maintain. I also take him to his club twice a week where he watches snooker. 

My main anxiety was him spending the day ill in bed and not being able to call for help, he will not pick up the telephone even if he is standing next to it when its ringing! He certainly will not make a telephone call himself. The diagram shows how I have installed a simple unobtrusive monitoring device. 

The setup comprises a standard intruder alarm unit with an auto dialler and a standard PIR room detector. 

The detector is fitted across Dad's bedroom door and is masked with tape to narrow the beam down to just a few inches wide. The red LED in the detector is removed so that is does not cause a distraction or annoyance. A single cable then connects to the alarm control panel. 

Just one zone of the panel is used and the output signal is fed to an autodialer unit. There is no bell and the internal sounder on the alarm is disconnected. The bell ringing time is set at its maximum of 20 minutes. This allows time to use the toilet and get back into bed without setting the alarm of twice (It thinks its bell is ringing and won't automatically reset until it thinks the bell has stopped) 

The autodialer is set to dial a mobile phone with caller recognition. The LCD display on the phone shows 'DADS HOUSE CALLING' when the system triggers. 

Dad's routine is very simple, he gets up at 9.15, goes out in the morning, has a sleep in the afternoon and goes to bed at about 10.00 at night. He does not go into his bedroom unless he is going to bed. Other people with different routines or differing house layouts may find more appropriate locations. 

The system dials the mobile phone but there is no need to answer it because of the caller recognition. When I see that it is Dad's number calling I just turn the phone off for a couple of minutes to allow the auto dialler to make its compulsory three attempts. In this way there are no telephone call costs involved in running the system. 

I can now go to work and by the time I've had my first cup of tea I know that Dad is up and about. 

He had been telling me that he had a sleep for half an hour in the afternoon but the system indicates that it's more like two hours. Because of this I am not so worried when he says he cannot sleep at night. 

At night I could set the phone to silent operation to monitor how often he gets up. 

The system is not infallible and it is certainly not a substitute for visiting but it does give some level of peace of mind. 

The whole setup cost about £120 and running costs are minimal. 

As an alternative to the PIR detector a pressure sensor could be installed under the mattress of the bed. Refrigerator door micro switches could be wired to the system to let you know that the person has opened the door and will presumably therefore be eating. 

Detectors on external doors could be used to alert the fact that the person is going out but remember the system would trigger if they answered the door to a caller or just put a milk bottle out! 

A more sophisticated system could be used to give different messages via the autodialer dependant on which detector is activated this would require a multi zone panel with an output for each zone. It would also require an autodialer with the facility to send different messages dependant on which zone triggered it. Such a system would be considerably expensive. It would also require the calls to be answered to hear the message and so would incur telephone costs. 

If anyone would like more information please contact me. 

David Hackney can be reached at 

171 Acheson Road, Shirley, Solihull, West Midlands, B90 2JB 
Telephone: 0121 7456010, Fax by arrangement