The Problem:
If your elderly parent is prone to wandering the home at night and needs guidance, such as a gentle warning not to go out the front door, I may have a solution for you.
In Issue #2, “Automated Lighting for Nocturnal Bathroom Visits,” I showed a simple way to provide path guidance to the bathroom using networked lights that required no app, phone, WiFi, or Internet. If that solution is insufficient, I’m showing a more complicated system that offers a “red light” on the front door if your parent heads for the front door… especially if they could set off a security alarm by opening the door. A gentle, spoken reminder tells them to return to bed as it is still time for sleeping.
This solution is more complex, requiring an app, phone for setup, Wi-Fi, and the Internet, but I will guide you through the setup. One extra benefit is that this solution can notify you if your parent wanders.
The Solution:
This solution relies on a YoLink motion sensor near the front door that can detect your parent’s approach BEFORE they open the door by controlling a RED LED light hung over the front door and speaking a gentle message to them. I have previously shown a solution in “Dementia Door Minder” , but now I’m adding a “caregiver’s notification light based on a post I saw about a deaf wife needing to know if her husband with dementia was walking out the front door while she was sleeping.
A switch-mounted control YoLink IR blaster controls the light through an outlet-mounted Yolink speaker that speaks the guidance message. In addition, it sends you a phone notification and turns on an optional RED light in your room as a wandering notification. You can later review notification messages to help you remember when the wandering occurred.
The devices are mounted using under-plate mounts with no wall screws allowing easy removal.
Note: this does require an electrical outlet to hold the speaker near the door you are trying to protect.
Here is a YouTube video of it in action
Steps to configure the system
· Download the YoLink app and create your account
· Add the YoLink speaker hub, YoLink Motion sensor, YoLink IR Blaster, and optional YoLink smart plug using the YoLink instructions
o This uses a very simple “Scan the QR code on device” method
· Train the YoLink IR Blaster using the IR Remote that came with the LED bar light for “TV Power” and “Stop”
o Select Smart IR Remote device
o Tap “+”
o Tap “DIY”
o Tap the checkmark and confirm
o Tap “+”
o Add “TV Power”
o Tap the “TV power icon”
o Tap “Learn”
o Follow the on screen instructions using the IR remote from the LED bar
o Repeat the above for the “Stop” button
· Create the YoLink automation
o Tap “Smart”
o Tap “Automation”
o Tap “+”
o Add the “When” and “Behavior” as shown in the picture below
§ Enter your choice of a verbal encouragement message and alert sound
Choose Alert settings:
· Tap “3 bars” in upper left
· Tap “Settings”
· Tap “Alarm Strategies”
· You can choose to add Email or SMS in addition to the normal app notificiation
Testing:
· Mount the Yolink Speaker Hub, power adapter, and YoLink motion sensor in the outlet mount case.
o I suggest using Alien Tape to hold the speaker in the case
o Wrap the cord in the case area
o Plug the YoLink power plug into the wall outlet
o Mount the motion sensor disc with Alien Tape
· Mount the IR Blaster on a wall switch in the outlet mount case
· Set the color on the LED using the provided remote while pointing at the LED light
o Press the “On” button
o Press the “R” button
o Press the “Off” button
· Optional- Plug the caregiver’s RED night light into the YoLink smart plug and connect the smart plug to the wall outlet.
· Walk past the motion sensor.
Note that the YoLink Motion sensor needs to “cool down” for about a minute before it can detect
You may want to adjust the “Working Time” to meet your parent’s schedule