Home/Personal alarms & fall detection/Ageing in place
Assistive technology · ageing in place · Melbourne & VictoriaSmall smart-home helpers that make staying at home safer.
Lights that come on by themselves when someone gets up at night. A heater that switches itself off. A front door you can answer from the chair. We set these up alongside our fall and bed-exit sensor, so the home helps before anyone has to ask. Nothing to learn, nothing to wear, no camera anywhere. Everything on this page counts as assistive technology for funding purposes.
- Hallway and bathroom lights on at night, before the first step
- Works with ordinary Philips Hue bulbs and smart plugs you can buy anywhere
- Installed and set up by a Melbourne team, one visit, funding paperwork included
Prefer to talk? Call 03 7504 7011, Monday to Friday.
2 am. They sit up. The hallway is already lit.
The bedroom sensor notices the bed exit. Before their feet touch the floor, the bedside lamp comes on low, then the hallway, then the bathroom. When they're back in bed, the lights go off again.
- 1The sensor sees them sit up and leave the bed.
- 2The lights on their route come on, dim enough not to wake them fully.
- 3If they don't come back, or they fall, your phone rings. Same as always.
Works with Philips Hue bulbs and any smart plug we fit. The sensor is the same one that detects falls.
Most night falls happen on the way to the bathroom, in the dark.
Ask any family and the story is the same. Someone gets up in the night, doesn't want to wake the house, doesn't reach for the switch, and falls in the hallway or the bathroom doorway.
A light that comes on by itself removes the reason to walk in the dark. It sounds small. In the homes we look after, it is one of the changes that actually stops falls happening, rather than only reporting them afterwards.
That is the idea behind this page. The same sensor that raises the alarm can also switch on the lights, turn off the heater, and answer the door, so the home helps before anyone has to ask.
Five things the home can do on its own.
Pick the ones that fit. Each one uses ordinary smart-home gear, set up so nobody has to touch it.
Lights on when they get up at night
The bed-exit sensor switches on the bedside lamp, the hallway and the bathroom in turn, dimmed for night. Off again when they're back in bed. Uses Philips Hue bulbs in the lamps they already have.
Bedroom · hallway · bathroomA heater or kettle that switches itself off
A smart plug on the heater, the kettle or the electric blanket. It turns off after a set time, or when the room has been empty for a while. You can check it from your phone.
Any appliance · smart plugA door that tells you it opened after dark
A small sensor on the front door. If it opens between the hours you choose, you get a message. For someone with dementia, it can also switch on the porch light and raise a call.
Front door · back door · door sensorA doorbell they can answer from the chair
A video doorbell shows who is at the door on a small screen or their phone, and lets them talk without getting up. You can see it too, from wherever you are.
Front door · video doorbellCall the family by voice, from any room
"Call Michael." A voice speaker in the living room and bedroom places the call, hands-free. It can also read out reminders for tablets and appointments at the times you set.
Living room · bedroom · voice speakerAnd the sensor that ties it together
All of this runs from the same fall and bed-exit sensor and hub as our personal alarm. If you already have the alarm, these are add-ons. If not, we fit both in the one visit.
Bedroom · radar sensor · see the personal alarmThree steps, one visit.
Walk the home with us
We visit and follow the routes they actually take: bed to bathroom, chair to kitchen, front door. We note where the light is poor and what gets left on.
About an hour · freeFit and set up
Smart bulbs into the existing lamps and fittings, plugs on the appliances, sensors on the doors. We set the times and the order, then test it with them at night-time brightness.
Usually a half dayAdjust for the first month
Too bright, too early, a room we missed. We tune it with you for the first month, then check it once a year with the alarm system.
30-day tuning includedOrdinary products, set up so nobody has to touch them.
Philips Hue bulbs, smart plugs, door sensors and a video doorbell.
Nothing exotic. The difference is that our hub drives them from the sensor, so the person never has to open an app, say the right words or find a switch.
- Keeps working without the internet for the lights and plugs, because the hub talks to them inside the house.
- The switches still work. Nothing about the house changes for visitors or carers.
- No cameras inside the home. The only camera is the doorbell, and it points at the doorstep.
- If you already own some of it, we'll use what you have.
One hub for all of it
The same small box that runs the personal alarm runs the lights and plugs. One thing to look after, one number to call.
Checks itself
If a bulb or a plug stops answering, the hub tells us. You're not finding out on the night it mattered.
Start small
Most homes start with the night lights. Everything else can be added later without replacing anything.
Some of this can be funded. Some of it is cheap enough not to matter.
A set of night lights costs less than most people expect. Where funding applies, we handle the paperwork with you.
Support at Home
Assistive technology that reduces falls risk can be funded under the Assistive Technology and Home Modifications stream, usually on an occupational therapist's recommendation. Read what Support at Home will fund.
- Night lighting for falls prevention is a common request, and we describe it in the terms assessors use
- We write the product sheet in the format the assessor needs
NDIS, if you manage your own plan
We are not a registered NDIS provider. Self-managed and plan-managed participants can use their assistive technology funding with us; agency-managed participants can't.
- An occupational therapist's letter is the document that unlocks it
- Quote and product sheet written to match
Buy outright
Most families simply pay for the night lights and plugs. Fixed price, quoted after the free assessment, and the monthly service is the same one that covers the alarm.
- No lock-in
- Equipment is yours and stays useful if funding changes
The homes where a small change makes a big difference.
Gets up in the night
The most common case. Lights on the route, off again after. Nothing to remember.
Dementia
Leaves the stove or heater on, opens the door at night. Plugs that switch off and doors that tell you.
Poor eyesight or balance
Better light everywhere they walk, without asking anyone to remember a switch.
Living alone
A doorbell they can answer from the chair, and a voice call to family from any room.
What families ask us first.
Do they have to learn an app or talk to a speaker?
Will the lights come on every time they roll over?
Do we need the personal alarm as well?
What if the internet goes down?
We already have Hue bulbs and a Google speaker. Can you use them?
Is there a camera inside the house?
Which areas do you cover?
Tell us how they move around the house. We'll tell you what's worth doing.
A free visit, a plain-language recommendation, and a quote in the format your funding needs. Or call and talk it through first.
Smart-home helpers reduce risk; they do not replace a falls-prevention plan, personal care, or emergency services. Detection settings are tuned per home during the first month and reviewed annually. Radar sensors form no image and record no audio outside an open call. Fall statistics: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Support at Home and NDIS eligibility is determined by those schemes, not by us.