Our latest product innovation in the health and wellbeing sector, the 3rings smartplug, brings peace of mind to those who worry about their ageing loved ones, but can’t always be there.
We’ve heard some amazing stories from people about how this groundbreaking technology is making such a positive difference to peoples’ lives. And, as well as helping our ageing family members, we’ve also discovered that the 3rings plug could provide support to other vulnerable groups too, as one of our 3rings customers shared recently.
Two years ago, 85-year-old Arthur Boardman was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s – and one thing he isn’t short of is people worrying about him.
Arthur’s four children live within a few miles of him and if they’re not popping round to check on him, they’re calling to check he’s ok.
Arthur’s 45 year old daughter, Lesley says, “Me and my two brothers and sister are thankfully all close by, which certainly makes things easier, but we all have to go out to work in the day, so it’s not possible for us to get round sometimes until the evening to see him.”
Their mum passed away two years ago and following this, their dad was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s.
“It got to the point where we were each ringing him several times a day. In all honesty, it was starting to annoy him. He’d sometimes not pick up the phone, or switch it off, or when he did answer he’d tell us to stop ringing him all the time! It got to be a bit of a problem. We wanted to call to check he was ok but in doing so we were irritating him!”
When Lesley heard about the 3rings smart plug, she knew this was the answer they were looking for. It works just like an adaptor, so it’s none intrusive. Simply by plugging Arthur’s kettle in as normal, via the 3rings plug, it lets each of his children know in the morning when he gets up to make a drink with a ‘peace of mind message’ sent to their mobile phone. Most days at 10.30am the family gets a reassuring message to tell them he’s put the kettle on. If not, they get a ‘red alert’ telling them he hasn’t used the kettle yet and there could be a problem.
“We’ve only had the red alert once,” adds Lesley. “On Mondays and Tuesdays he goes to a local coffee morning and one day he overslept so he left the house without making a drink at home. We got the alert and thankfully my niece was able to pop round and check on him. She found him at the coffee morning having quite a nice time and wondering what all the fuss was about. But we were of course glad to know he was ok. It was a false alarm but it shows the device really works.”
For Lesley and her family, the 3rings plug is easing some of their anxiety around their dad and his condition. “We all have to go out to work and don’t have time to get round to see dad before we set off. I’m sure it’s a familiar story for a lot of people. So if something did happen to dad in the morning it could be evening before we found out. As soon as I know dad is up and has made a drink I can relax a bit more and get on with work.
“At least one of us still goes to see dad every day, so it’s not about replacing face to face contact with him, but with this clever plug as an added reassurance, we feel like we’ve got some extra help available to us.”