My elderly mother has a personal alarm however we have encountered two problems:
1) She refuses to wear it. Indeed, even after falling and only being able to summon help from a neighbour by luck rather than anything else, she still refuses to wear it. When asked why she doesn't want to wear it, she only responds, "I'm all right!" with no further explanation and she is certainly not confused. This behaviour is not atypical as she has resisted using a walking stick, bath seat and other such equipment which would increase her independence, safety etc.
2) After a few years of the alarm being installed the person who was named as the first person to be called in the event of the alarm being activated managed to lose my mother's keys and my mother now refuses to let them have any more.
Needless to say, both of these issues have caused me much concern, but I must respect the fact that my mother is making her own choices about how she wishes to live her life and what risks she wishes to take (and I do).
I would also point out that if families are fractured then the list of named contacts can also cause problems. For example, when I suggested that we proceed with getting the alarm (with my mother's full agreement) I suggested that the people listed as contacts be based in order of who was nearest to her and who my mother was happy to have her keys. This was on the basis that one of the key issues is that the people should be available and able to respond promptly. My mother was happy with this reasoning and also the three people to be listed (which included myself as the second person to be contacted as I was second nearest). My sister, who lives further away than I do, threw a complete paddy at the suggestion that that she be the third person on the list after me and insisted that she be the second person to be contacted, despite this not being so practical and the inherent delay to any response being achieved. Fearful my mother would change her mind and decline the personal alarm in view of my sister's position, I agreed that my sister be named as the second person and myself as the third. My view is that my sister is putting her own issues in the forefront rather than prioritising my mother's safety and well being. Indeed, as I write this, I think that anyone reading this might imagine that my sister and I are very young and immature and part of me feels very embarrassed at this state of affairs as this is really not something about which siblings should be arguing. Sadly my sister is much older than me at 62 years of age.
I hope no one else has these challenges!