Useful gadgets

In this section:

Useful gadgets and technology is available to everyone and can help you be more independent and safe at home. This is also known as ‘Technology Enabled Care’ or ‘Assistive Technology.’

What is technology enabled care?

Devices or gadgets that can help keep you safe and well.

The gadgets that can help you depends on your needs. There are:

  • simple gadgets - such as devices that remind you to take your medication or a neck or wrist worn pendant that detects falls
  • smart gadgets - that can be used to support your independence when out in the community and can send an alert to your carer if you need help

How can I get gadgets or devices to help me?

Get in touch with our Solihull Community Housing (SCH) Wellbeing team:

You can also:

To work out what gadgets will work best for you, SCH Wellbeing will ask you questions about your needs.

If you need extra help they may ask us to complete an Occupational Therapy (OT) assessment.

The cost of useful gadgets

How much you pay for gadgets depends on your circumstances. 

You can also choose to buy gadgets:

Learn more about useful gadgets

SCH Wellbeing explain how useful gadgets work. You can view their:

Assistive technology

You can buy assistive technology online or on the high street.

Motion sensors can be used to detect if you move or don't move and can be placed where they are needed most.

You can control the time the sensor is active, for example at night. Installation is easy and sensors can be placed on the floor or wall.

A falls detector can give help if you are at risk of falling. If you fall over, you can press a button to call for help.

Falls detectors have a sensor that raises an alarm to a call centre. If you stand up 20 seconds after the alarm goes off, it will be cancelled. If you cannot get up, the fall sensor will vibrate with a flashing LED light to let you know an alarm is about to be made.

The detector can help people with:

  • limited mobility
  • long-term conditions such as epilepsy, diabetes, or Parkinson’s disease

An epilepsy sensor is ideal if you have epileptic seizures. They can also pick up sounds or vomiting.

When a seizure has been detected a call will be activated to a monitoring centre. A bed sensor can also be attached to signal if you get out of bed or stay out too long.

Pressure mats monitor movement and are activated when you on it. They can be used to monitor your movement and detect any intruders.

Pressure mats are particularly useful for people with dementia or if you have concerns about a person walking out of a room / house without support. You can programme the timer, so the mat works at only certain times of the day, such as between 9.00pm and 6.00am.

The bed occupancy sensor will send an alert to a carer / family member if you leave your bed and do not return in 15-minutes.

The bed occupancy sensor is a pressure pad which is placed on top of the mattress, usually under the bed sheet. It sends an instant alarm to a call monitoring centre when you leave your bed and can be set to have a 15 minute delay.

On the high street you will see the increasing popularity of smart home devices - these are gadgets that can interact to help you run your home automatically. For example, controlling the heating, kettle or washing machine via an app on your mobile phone.

The most common smart device is a voice activated speaker (such as the Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant). These are fantastic gadgets to help people at home to get up to date information such as the time, weather or news.

But they can also help us to remember things throughout the day such as taking medication or having a drink of water. They can also help us to control our home, for example by turning lights or heating on and off.