Worried about an elderly parent living alone
Your mom or dad wants to stay in their own home. You want that too. But they live alone, and you can't be there every hour. If something happens on a quiet afternoon, who would know?
You're not the only one asking. About three in ten older people who get help from family live alone, and nearly four in ten of those who are 85 or older (AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving, 2025). More than half of adult children whose parent lives alone say they worry about their parent's safety (The Senior List, 2026).
How often should you check on them?
Many families settle on a daily call. It works until the day nobody picks up, and then you don't know if they're in the garden, asleep, or on the floor.
A daily check-in gives you the same answer without the call. They tap once on their watch. You see it on your phone. If the tap doesn't come by the time you choose, your phone tells you.
When they insist on living alone
Arguing rarely works. What helps is keeping the things they care about:
- Their own home and their own routine.
- A normal watch, not a pendant that tells everyone they need help.
- Their say. Pick the check-in time together, so it fits their morning.
What Lanturne tells you
Your phone gets an alert when:
- The morning check-in doesn't come.
- The watch goes quiet for longer than you chose.
- The watch is worn but finds no pulse and no movement.
- They hold the HELP button.
- The watch detects a fall and they don't cancel it.
What you need
An Android phone for you, a Wear OS smartwatch for them, and an Android phone in their home to set up the watch the first time. Refurbished Galaxy watches start at $89. Everything you need
Lanturne is $30 a month, or $120 a year, and the first 7 days are free. It is not a medical device and not an emergency service. It tells you what the watch noticed, so you can decide what to do.