How do I request a welfare check on my elderly parent?

This page means a police welfare check. Medicare's yearly Wellness visit with her doctor is a different thing.

Before you call

• Call her again, and text her.
• Call a neighbor, a friend or her building's front desk.
• If she uses a daily check-in, look at her history. In Hammock365, the family board shows whether she tapped today and on the days before. That tells the dispatcher when she was last okay.

Which number to call, even from another state

Use the non-emergency number for the police department or sheriff's office that covers her address. Search her city or county name plus "police non-emergency." If she lives outside city limits, try the county sheriff.

Some cities take these requests through 311. Atlanta, for example, takes safety and welfare check requests by 311 or online. Call 911 only for an emergency.

You can ask the police to check on your mom or your dad from anywhere. What matters is her address, not yours.

What to tell the dispatcher

• Her full name, age and address, with any apartment number or gate code
• When you last heard from her, and why this is unusual
• Her health: conditions, medicines, a walker, memory problems
• How to get in: who has a key, a lockbox, a neighbor
• Any pets in the house
• Your name and phone number, so they can call you back

Her Hammock365 emergency card holds much of this: her legal name, date of birth, allergies, medications, doctor and emergency contacts. It is free, and it is on your phone.

What happens at the door

An officer knocks and tries to make contact. What happens next depends on what they find and on local rules. Ask the dispatcher to call you back either way.

If she is fine, she may be embarrassed. Tell her why you called: you could not reach her, and you were worried.

Afterward: set things up so you need one less often

A welfare check is the step for when nobody close can get there. To need one less often, set up a daily sign she is okay, plus a short list of neighbors and friends who can knock.

With Hammock365, free, she taps I'm Okay each morning. If she has not tapped by the time you picked, a text goes out. On the paid plan, $14.99 a month, everyone who joined gets it, including a neighbor.

The honest limit

Hammock365 never calls the police, 911 or anyone else. It texts your family or friends, and you decide what to do. It is not a medical alert, a call center or an emergency service. In an emergency, call 911.