Passive Monitoring Systems

A passive medical alert monitoring system is different from either the no-fee medical alert or monitored medical alert in that it’s designed so the user doesn’t have to push a button to get help.

Instead, the system passively monitors the user’s home or activities to detect problems.

Examples of this kind of system include wearable pendants that can detect a fall, sensor pads that can record how long a person stays in bed, and motion detectors that keep track of activity in the house.

Advantages of passive monitoring:

The advantage of passive monitoring is that the user doesn’t have to do anything. If there’s no pendant to wear or batteries to charge, this lessens the risk that user will forget to wear the button. (This seems obvious, but it can be a big problem.)

Passive monitoring is an area of rapidly-evolving technology. This is where a lot of research is happening right now, and companies are trying hard to figure out a monitoring system that consumers will want to buy.

Examples of passive monitoring include FineThanx and BeClose

Lazy cat by David Blackwell via Flickr Creative Commons