Safety Tips For People Who Live Alone

[Hazel Hain]

Hi guys,
I and my family are planning to move to U.S as a part of my job. I have my mother at home. She is not willing to come with us. She is saying that she will stay alone at home. But we do not want her to stay alone as we cannot be at peace. She is of the view that she won't be happy if she leaves her native. When we speak about the dangers of staying alone at home, she is pointing out examples of all those who are staying alone safely. Although ours is a good residential area, I am still not willing to let her stay alone at home.
Recently, I happened to come across an article on safety guidelines for living alone. It is said that if you are alone at home get a dog or cat. Install home security systems with medical monitoring that can be used in case of any emergency. It is always good to install motion sensors for outdoor lights to prevent the attack of intruders.
I think all these are good suggestions. If you have more ideas on how to secure the house, feel free to share it. All your suggestions will be of great help. Thanks in advance.

[Maurya]

Although you did not mention where your Mother will be living, I would like to mention some things that might be useful to know. If several of her friends might be persuaded to take turns in calling her on the phone each day, this would help her to stay in touch with people, if only just to chat for a few minutes. This would be an unobtrusive way to check up on her, just to make sure things are going all right, without being obnoxious about it. If seven friends could be enlisted, each one would need to call (or to come over to her house) only once each week.

[Islander]

That's a great idea, Maurya. It could also help in case of a real emergency, when the occupant can't come to the phone. I have several friends in the same position I am, living alone on a small farm and garden. We've talked about some kind of phoning system but each of us has unpredictable habits, no real set routine, and so far we haven't figured out how to make it work.