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Are You OK?

Automated well-being phone call system now available for Salem seniors
Posted on: August 26, 2019 - 11:59am
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The City of Salem's Council on Aging, Salem for All Ages initiative, and Salem Police Department are now offering the "Are You OK?" program for Salem seniors. If you are a Salem senior who lives alone or you are the adult child of a Salem senior who lives alone, "Are You OK?" is a free program that places a daily automated phone call to check on your well-being or that of your parent. Contacting a senior or home-bound individual on a daily basis can help reassure their safety and provide a greater feeling of security and comfort for all.

After enrolling for the program, each day at 8:00 a.m., the system automatically places a computerized monitoring calls, monitored by the Salem Police Department. The phone number on the caller ID will show 978-745-9595. If the subscriber doesn’t answer after a preset number of call attempts, an alert is transmitted to the Police Department. The emergency contact person on file for the subscriber is notified and the Salem Police Department will then go out to conduct a “well-being check,” if the emergency contact person does not know where the subscriber is.

"I am so grateful to our COA and Police staff and the members of the Salem for All Ages Task Force, who all helped to make this program possible," said Mayor Kim Driscoll. "In addition to being a critical action item in our Salem for All Ages plan, this new program will help our seniors and their family members be assured that they are being checked on and supported by our community. I encourage any Salem senior who lives along to register for 'Are You OK?'"

To sign up, or to get more information about the program, please call the Social Service Department at 978-744-0924.

Policy:

  1. Subscriber must be a Salem resident.
  2. Subscriber must complete a “Field Interview Form” with the Social Service Department at the Mayor Jean Levesque Community Life Center.
  3. Subscriber must agree to have a “lockbox” installed by the Salem Police Department on the exterior of their home. A copy of the key to the subscriber's home is placed in the lockbox, in case the police need to conduct a “well-being check.”                                              
  4. Subscriber agrees to contact the Social Service Department at 978-744-0924 to inform when they will not be home for the calls (for example, if you are on vacation). The Social Service Department will put calls on hold during the times reported by the subscriber or their emergency contact.
  5. Subscriber will not hold the City of Salem nor its employees responsible for any potential system failure.