Best Life Alert Alternatives

What Are the Best Alternatives to Life Alert?

When discussing medical alert systems, one of the first things people think of is the catchphrase, “Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”, coined by the market leader Life Alert. In fact, you could say that Life Alert was the first to really bring medical alert systems to the forefront, and it has been dominating medical alert advertising ever since, especially commercials airing on daytime television. For this reason, it comes as no surprise that many people lump all medical alert systems under the title “Life Alert” and are unaware of the many medical alert system alternatives on the market today.

As a pioneer in the market of personal emergency response systems, Life Alert handles more than 2 million calls per year. In 2020, 40,095 people were saved from a catastrophic event by utilizing Life Alert. A company like Life Alert offers clear benefits to older adults and those at increased risk of medical emergencies. However, it’s crucial to evaluate your options and choose a system that best aligns with your lifestyle and medical needs. When it comes down to it, only you can decide which medical alert system is right for you.

While this article focuses on reasons you might choose a medical alert system other than Life Alert, there are some pros to choosing this medical alert company.

Life Alert Pros

1. This medical alert company is proven, having been in business since 1987. With over 30 years in the medical alert industry, it has shown that it is a trustworthy and reliable option.
2. Built-in backup batteries in the base stations last 72 hours, ensuring continued connection to the Life Alert emergency response center during short power outages.
3. Waterproof pendants or medical alert bracelets can be worn in the shower. When determining where most falls occur, it was found that around 60 percent of falls occur within someone’s home. The National Institutes of Health determined that a fall in the bathroom was almost two and a half times more likely to result in injury than a fall in the living room. Waterproof equipment helps protect our loved ones in these riskier areas of the home.

Six Reasons to Consider an Alternative to Life Alert

As we noted above, the benefits of a medical alert device such as Life Alert are obvious when it comes to preventing serious injury in seniors. Although Life Alert is a commonly recognized brand of medical alert systems, it’s not the only option. Let’s take a closer look at some of the specifics that might deter you from choosing Life Alert as your preferred medical alert service.

1. Life Alert Cost: Life Alert is more costly than other medical alert devices. Monthly subscription fees range anywhere from $49-$89, depending on the package you purchase. While the company offers free shipping and no equipment fees, Life Alert equipment activation fees range from $95-$198, again, depending on the package you’ve chosen.
2. Length of contract: Many medical alert systems will offer the ability to cancel at any time. However, Life Alert requires a three-year contract that you can only cancel under specific circumstances.
3. Lack of pricing transparency: Life Alert’s website does not offer clearly noted packages and pricing, and it requires a discussion with a representative from Life Alert to truly understand what is offered in the package and how expensive it will be in total. Other companies have more widely available pricing guidelines, which makes it easier to decide which option might be best for you.
4. No automatic fall detection: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are around 36 million falls reported among older adults annually. One out of every five of these falls results in serious injury, such as a broken bone or traumatic head injury, requiring emergency medical care. Automatic fall detection is technology that triggers an alert to the emergency call system if the sensor detects a rapid change in position or fall. It does this using technology known as accelerometers. The help button does not even need to be touched for this alert to be sent to the monitoring center, which can be especially helpful in the case of someone losing consciousness or hitting their head. This technology can greatly reduce the risk of serious injury and decrease medical costs.
5. Life Alert does not offer a trial period: This means that once you’ve purchased your package, you are locked into your subscription until the contract expires or is up for renewal.
6. Additional features not available: The medical alert industry is constantly evolving to offer additional features based on changing needs for seniors and their loved ones. These features might include medication reminders, appointment reminders, activity tracking and home environment monitoring, which can help family members and caregivers customize their package to their loved one’s needs. While Life Alert does have an option for GPS tracking, it does not offer perks like secure lockboxes or caregiver access to mobile apps.

Best Life Alert Alternatives

Medical Guardian vs. Life Alert

*Pricing listed for in-home system is based on the Classic Guardian system and pricing for mobile system is based on the Mobile Guardian 2, which are the company’s most affordable options.

If you’re thinking about purchasing a Medical Guardian device, you can even take a product quiz on the company’s website to see which option would best suit your needs.

See our full Medical Guardian Review

Aloe Care Health vs. Life Alert

*Pricing for Aloe Care Health is based on the Essentials package, which is the company’s most affordable option. 

*Pricing listed for Bay Alarm Medical are based on the In-Home Basic system and Mobile Lite, which are the company´s most affordable options.

Bay Alarm Medical vs. Life Alert

Bottom Line

As noted in this article, there is a wide variety of medical alert devices available that can help you in your daily life. Empowering yourself with the right medical alert system can help you maintain your independence and physical health.

Why You Can Trust Our Review

At AgingInPlace.org, it is our goal to equip seniors and their family members with the most comprehensive and up-to-date reviews of assistive devices. In this way, we can do our part in ensuring that older adults can best prepare their home environments to successfully age in place. Collectively, our reviewers have spent over 1,700 hours conducting research through multiple modalities to provide you with valuable information on medical alert systems. The criteria considered most important were reliability and quality of the company’s monitoring center, and companies that did not provide 24-hour coverage, seven days a week, are not considered in our top picks. 

The gold standard in quality assurance of a medical alert system is a company’s designation as one of The Monitoring Association’s (TMA) Five Diamond Alert Monitoring Centers. You might see companies refer to this on their website as Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA) Five Diamond Alert Monitoring Centers. (TMA was formerly known as CSA). Of the thousands of alarm companies in operation in the United States, roughly 200 earn TMA’s Five Diamond designation, a hallmark of quality emergency service.

You’ll also see companies advertise that they are “UL-listed,” which is another quality indicator. UL stands for Underwriter’s Laboratory, and UL-listed products have been tested by this independent, nationally recognized laboratory and determined to meet specific safety requirements.

Frequently Asked Questions

Author: Danielle Pagano, APRN

Sources

Keep on Your Feet—Preventing Older Adult Falls. CDC. (2020). https://www.cdc.gov/injury/features/older-adult-falls/index.html

Accelerometers in rehabilitation medicine for older adults. Oxford Academic. (2005). https://academic.oup.com/ageing/article/34/6/556/40438

Circumstances and outcomes of falls among high risk community-dwelling older adults. PMC. (2014). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4700929/