Best wearable senior health monitors

The Apple Watch SE (2nd gen) works for people of all ages and levels of tech-savviness. Its large screen, easy controls, and health monitoring apps make it easier to age gracefully at home. As long as you’re wearing the watch when you take a fall, it will act like a standard medical alert system.

While it is expensive, older adults can use it to track almost any health metric. In addition to heart, diet, and activity monitoring, the Apple Watch has automatic fall detection for older adults.

Best senior monitors and wearables

What turned our heads is the Apple Watch SE’s automatic fall detection. This feature is common in medical alert systems but unique among smartwatches like this one. When the Apple Watch SE detects a sudden change in speed and altitude, it triggers an alert asking if you need assistance. If you’re unresponsive, it will call for help within 60 seconds.

Just like your phone, the Apple Watch’s screen is customisable. You can download health apps based on your needs. Apps focus on heart health tracking, sleep tracking, activity tracking, and more.

Older adults can also use the watch to keep in touch with loved ones through calls and text on their Apple Watch SE. This may come with a learning curve for anyone new to smartwatches, but if you can operate an iPhone, you can operate this smartwatch.

The device itself is sleek with a large, clear screen that makes it easy to read. There are also tons of wristbands available users can change out based on their style or comfort level.

On the downside, the battery life leaves a lot to be desired—in fact, you'll need to pop it on the charger overnight at the end of every day, which may be a dealbreaker for some.

Of course, there are a few caveats to the NutTAG Guardian 4G Smart Watch.  Aside from heart rate monitoring, there aren't many health tracking features on offer, if that's important to you.

Additionally, the battery life isn't the greatest, and with normal usage, the watch will need a charge once every day or two.

One of the biggest benefits is that you can bring your own SIM card (or pay an additional $70 for their recommended Telstra SIM), meaning you could simply grab one of the cheap prepaid SIM plans below and you're all set.

It's also got a pretty versatile design and can be attached to a lanyard, wristband, or belt clip (all of which are included).

The LiveLife Alarm also has a 'Find me' feature, which allows you to send a text to your pendant with a simple command if you can't find it. Your pendant will then announce 'I am over here' so it can be easily found.

For your money, you also get an included Telstra 4GX SIM card with unlimited calls and texts and no ongoing monthly plan fees. That said, after the first year, you will need to pay $75 per year to keep the plan active, which is a shame considering the already high upfront cost.

It's also important to note that, since it's a more basic device, you don't get any of the health tracking or smartwatch features that come with other options.

The downside is that the Medi Alarm Pro 4G 2 comes at a hefty cost, both upfront and ongoing ($50 per month or $520 per year). Still, for those who are worried their loved ones might accidentally miss or sleep through an SOS alert, the 24/7 monitoring might just be worth it.

None of these devices are helpful unless users wear them every day in case of an emergency. So prioritise comfort and convenience before flashy features like texting and video calling. Activity and fitness tracking are attractive too, but don’t choose them over essentials like location and emergency calling. The best wearable devices for older adults should help them live independently and safely.

Wearable trackers need to be just that—wearable. So we prioritised comfort and easy wearing over bells and whistles. We looked for monitors with adjustable sizes that don’t get in the way of normal activities. The more comfortable the wearable, the more inclined users are to wear them. After all, wearable senior monitors aren’t helpful if nobody wears them.

Tracking features are also important. GPS location features, health tracking, and fall detection are the most important types we considered. The devices with the most tracking abilities scored higher in our lineup.

Finally, we looked for devices with senior-friendly features like a big screen or button, easy fasteners that don’t hurt arthritic joints, and simple setup and operation. Take a look at our methodology to see how we reviewed this and other products.