Helping the aged

A mobile phone device that could be a lifesaver for the elderly and infirm has been developed. While most young people carry a mobile, uptake among older people is much lower because they can be complicated, the buttons too small and the screens difficult to read. The new device avoids these problems, making emergency calls simple. It has the added advantage of providing location detection.

Using EC funding, the device was developed by a consortium of six firms: Empirica, Recontrol and Attendo Systems from Germany, Spain's Telehealth and FASS, and Attendo Response in the UK. Help the Aged and the Parkinson Self-Help group also had an input.

'The devices are basically for older people and those with chronic illnesses or disabilities, to enable them to trigger an emergency call from anywhere,' said Empirica's MobilAlarm project manager Stefan Lilischkis. 'It's very simple to use. It uses common technology — the GSM mobile phone network and GPS technology for locating the device.'