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Daily check-in plan

Plan who checks on you each day, and who acts if you don't answer.

The plan builder needs JavaScript, which is off in this browser. The notes below still explain what a check-in plan covers and which guides help with each part. If you think someone is in danger, call 911.

Step 1 of 17

Where do you live?

So we can name local programs.

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This tool organizes information and is provided as is. It isn't legal, medical, tax or financial advice. Before you sign or rely on anything, check with a licensed attorney in your state or province. Terms

Why a daily check-in matters

When you live alone, the danger isn't only the fall. It's how long it takes someone to notice. When people who live alone were found within an hour of collapsing, about 1 in 8 died; after more than 3 days, 2 in 3 did (San Francisco paramedic data, 1993).

A daily check-in fixes the noticing, and you can build your own check-in service from friends, neighbors, an app or a call program. Your PDF has a fridge summary and a one-page plan for each person in it.

How to use your check-in plan

This is a plan, not an emergency service. If you think someone is in danger, call 911.

Answering the questions

Every question is optional. Skip a name or a time and your PDF leaves a line to fill in by hand. Daily call programs differ by state and province, so pick yours and your plan names examples from it where we found them.

Give each person their page

Print the PDF, go through each page with the person it's for, and ask whether the times work for them. Asking feels like a big favor. It's smaller than it sounds: answer a text, make a call, and know where the key is.

Ask your program three questions

If a daily call program or an app does your check-in, ask: "Do I need an emergency contact?" "If you can't reach me, who comes, and how fast?" "Can I leave a key or sign consent for you to come in?" Programs differ. Some send a deputy, some call your contact first, and some never call 911.

Keep the wellness check as the last step

A wellness check is a one-time visit by police, not a daily service, and officers decide what to do when they get there. For a worry that isn't urgent, the person on your plan calls the police non-emergency line. If anyone thinks you're hurt or in danger, they call 911 straight away.

Make a new plan when people change

Make a fresh plan when someone moves, changes their number or can't do it anymore, and before a long trip. Keep your PDF.

  • Free daily check-in calls, and daily check-in apps.
  • Setting up a check-in buddy, and who to name as your emergency contact.
  • How a wellness check works, and who pays when responders break the door.
  • How paramedics get into a locked house, and fire department lockbox programs.
  • Carrier Alert (does it run where you live?), and meal delivery as a safety check.
  • Pet care if you go to hospital.

Other free tools

  • Emergency contact card: a wallet card, fridge sheet and door note that say who to call and who has your key.
  • Aging in place checklist: a room-by-room checklist, plus a plan for who notices if you fall and how help gets in.
  • Hospital discharge checklist: who takes you home after sedation, and who stays the night.

This plan organizes who does what, and no one is on call because of it. Program names are examples, so check what's available where you live.