Free check-in calls for seniors in Massachusetts
In Massachusetts two county sheriffs run a free daily call. Elsewhere, the local Council on Aging is the first place to ask.
Read on . Programs change their hours, their rules and sometimes stop. Ring the number on the program's own page before you count on it.
Programs we could confirm
Are You Ok? Program
A call every morning to each enrolled senior. If something seems wrong, staff tell the family and, if needed, local police or emergency services. There is no cost.
- Run by
- Norfolk County Sheriff's Office, with Fallon Ambulance
- Covers
- Norfolk County
- Who can join
- Seniors living in Norfolk County.
- How to sign up
- 1-866-900-7865.
- Source
- norfolksheriff.com, read on
Are You Ok?
A daily telephone reassurance call to check on seniors who live alone. All Triad services are free.
- Run by
- Hampden County Sheriff's Office, Triad Division
- Covers
- Hampden County
- Who can join
- Seniors who live alone in Hampden County.
- How to sign up
- Triad Division, (413) 858-0060.
- Source
- hcsoma.org, read on
If none of these covers her town
- Eldercare Locator, a free federal service: 1-800-677-1116, or eldercare.acl.gov. It connects you to the Area Agency on Aging for her county. Ask for "telephone reassurance" by name.
- 211 from a phone in her area. It lists local services, call programs included.
- The sheriff's office or police department for her town, on the non-emergency line. Some run a daily call for older residents and only mention it when asked.
What to ask before you sign her up
- Does it call every day, or only on weekdays? What about holidays?
- What happens on a missed call, and how long until somebody is told?
- Who is told: you, a neighbor, a deputy at the door?
- Is there a waiting list, an age rule or a county rule?
How Care is different from a free program
If one of these programs covers her and fits her day, start there. It costs nothing, and some of them send a volunteer or a deputy to the door, which no phone service can do.
Care is a paid, automated call, not a volunteer and not a public office. It rings at the time you set, in her time zone, on the days you choose, weekends included. Any phone works, a landline too.
When she does not answer, it rings again ten minutes later and sends a text to her phone, then once more at twenty-five minutes. Then the people on your list are told by text and email, one after another, until somebody confirms. Nobody is sent to her house: the people you listed decide what happens next.
It is not an emergency service, it is not a medical device and it cannot detect a fall. Every call says so, and tells her to hang up and dial 911 if she needs help now.
Questions
- Are daily check-in calls for seniors free in Massachusetts?
- Many are. Most programs on this page say they are free or have no charge. A few do not state a cost, so ask when you call.
- Who runs telephone reassurance programs?
- Usually the Area Agency on Aging for the county, a sheriff's office or police department, a senior center, or a volunteer group.
- What happens if my parent does not answer a free check-in call?
- It depends on the program. Some call a named contact, some send a volunteer or a deputy. Each program's own page, or a call to its number, will tell you.
- Can we use a free program and a paid check-in call together?
- Yes. Some families keep a volunteer who calls for a chat once or twice a week and add a short automated call every morning.