A lot of families arrive at this question after a scare. The pendant alarm has been sitting on the bedside table for six months, still in its pouch, because the person who needs it quietly decided they did not want to look like an invalid. Then something happens, a fall, a confused night, a moment when no one could reach them for two hours, and suddenly the whole question opens up again: is there something better? Something they might actually use? And, underneath that, the question no one wants to ask out loud: should we be paying for all of this ourselves, or is there money for it somewhere?

Those are fair questions, and the answers are less complicated than the telecare industry sometimes makes them sound.

What the different devices actually do

The classic pendant alarm is a button worn around the neck or on a wrist that connects to a monitoring centre when pressed. The monitoring centre calls back, checks what is happening, and contacts a named person or the emergency services. They work well for people who are motivated to press the button and who spend most of their time at home. The catch is the one families already know: the person has to be wearing it, and they have to press it. Falls, strokes, and sudden confusion are exactly the moments when that does not always happen.

Fall-detection pendants are a step forward. These have built-in sensors that recognise the movement signature of a fall and trigger an alert automatically, without a button press. Age UK lists these as one of the most useful developments in home-based assistive technology for older people, and most major telecare providers now offer a fall-detection option at a similar price to a basic pendant.

GPS trackers are a different category altogether. They are designed for people who leave the home, whether that is someone living with dementia who walks and does not always find the way back, or someone who uses a mobility scooter and wants their family to be able to locate them if needed. A GPS device is usually worn as a watch or carried in a pocket. The family can see a real-time location on a smartphone, and many devices include a two-way call function. They do not replace a monitoring centre in the way a pendant does, but for families whose worry is 'where are they?' rather than 'have they fallen inside?', a GPS tracker often solves the right problem.

In 2026 there is also a growing category of smart home sensors, door and movement sensors that build a picture of normal daily activity and send an alert when the pattern breaks. No wearable required. These suit families whose parent will not wear anything but where someone at home checks a phone regularly.

What your council will and will not fund

Under the Care Act 2014, local councils in England have a duty to assess anyone who appears to need care and support. If a needs assessment concludes that telecare equipment would meet an identified need, the council can fund it. In practice, this is means-tested. Many London boroughs provide a basic community alarm service at low cost or free for people above the financial threshold for full council funding, and at a subsidised rate for others. The assessment is the starting point. If your parent has not had a needs assessment from the council, that is the first thing to ask for. You can request one via your local authority's adult social care team, and it is free to ask.

What councils typically will not fund: upgrades beyond the standard service, GPS trackers for people who do not have a dementia diagnosis or a documented risk of wandering, or premium fall-detection devices where a basic pendant has already been assessed as adequate. If the standard device has been assessed as adequate and your family wants something different, that difference usually falls to the family to pay privately.

If you believe the assessment got it wrong, or that a device the council declined to fund is genuinely necessary, you can challenge the decision. Put your concern in writing to the adult social care team first. If that does not resolve it, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman can investigate complaints about adult social care assessments. That route exists precisely for situations like this.

For families paying privately, the honest range in 2026 is roughly eight to thirty pounds per month for a monitored pendant, fifteen to forty pounds per month for a fall-detection device with monitoring, and thirty to eighty pounds per month for a GPS tracker with a monitoring centre option. Costs vary by provider and contract length. Age UK's national advice line on 0800 678 1602 can help you understand what is reasonable to pay and what questions to ask before signing a contract.

If the device gets used is a separate question from which device you buy

This is the part that technology guides rarely cover. A device that sits on the bedside table does nothing. Before the family spends money or the council arranges anything, it is worth one honest conversation with the person who will be wearing it: what would they actually carry? A watch they already wear? Something that looks like a standard wristband? A small fob in a coat pocket? Involving them in choosing the specific device, even within a narrow set of options, tends to improve whether it gets used. The Alzheimer's Society, reachable on 0333 150 3456, can advise specifically on GPS and tracking devices for people living with dementia, including how to have that conversation sensitively.

A carer who visits regularly can also help here. Someone who sees your parent every day, who notices whether the device is on or off, who can encourage without nagging, is a different kind of safety net from any alarm. Telecare works best alongside human contact, not instead of it.

If you would rather talk through the care arrangement itself, that is exactly the conversation Hibant exists to have. We are a London introductory care agency. Every carer we introduce has been DBS-checked, insurance-verified, and reference-checked before we bring them to a family, and you meet the carer in person before any arrangement begins. You choose the person yourself. For families using direct payments from the council to fund their care, we work within that too. If that would help, you can reach us at hello@hibantcare.com or have a look at hibantcare.com.

The one step to take this week: if your parent has not had a council needs assessment, ring the adult social care team at your local borough and ask for one. It costs nothing to ask, and it is the door through which telecare funding, direct payments, and a wider support plan all flow. If you are not sure which borough to call, the gov.uk website will find the right adult social care contact when you enter a postcode.

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