Keeping Track of an Aging Parent With Their Cell Phone
Your parent's phone can do much more than make calls. With a little setup, it can help family members locate them, see whether they made it home, find a lost phone and make important emergency information available when something goes wrong.
Set This Up Before You Need It
The worst time to figure out how location sharing works is when Dad is already missing or Mom has stopped answering her phone. If your parent is comfortable sharing their location, set it up together while everything is calm.
What a Phone Can Help You Do
See Their Location
With permission, an aging parent can share their location with a trusted family member so that person can see where their phone is located.
Know Whether They Made It Home
Location-sharing tools can be useful when a parent still drives, walks independently or travels alone and the family simply wants reassurance that they arrived safely.
Find a Lost Phone
Apple's Find My and Google's Find Hub can help locate supported phones and devices when they are misplaced or lost.
Provide Emergency Information
Phones can also hold medical information and emergency contacts that may be accessible even when the phone itself is locked.
If Your Parent Has an iPhone
Apple's Find My app allows your parent to share their location with people they choose. They remain in control of who can see the location and can stop sharing later.
How to Turn On Location Sharing
- Open the Find My app on the iPhone.
- Tap Me.
- Turn on Share My Location.
- Tap People.
- Tap the Add button and choose Share My Location.
- Select the trusted family member or contact.
- Choose how long the location should be shared.
Test It While You're Together
Do not just turn it on and assume it works. Have the family member open Find My on their own phone and make sure they can actually see the parent's location.
If Your Parent Has an Android Phone
Android users have several ways to share a location. One of the easiest options for many families is Google Maps Location Sharing.
Share a Location Through Google Maps
- Open Google Maps.
- Make sure your parent is signed into their Google Account.
- Tap the profile picture or initial.
- Tap Location sharing.
- Tap New share.
- Choose how long to share the location.
- Select the trusted person.
- Tap Share.
Google also offers Find Hub on supported Android devices. Location-sharing options can vary somewhat by device and Android version, so it is worth checking the settings together.
Put Emergency Information on the Phone Too
Location is only part of the setup. If your parent has a medical emergency, first responders may need information before a family member can be reached.
Consider including:
- Emergency contact names
- Emergency contact phone numbers
- Major medical conditions
- Medication list
- Medication allergies
- Other important allergies
- Blood type, if known
For iPhone Users: Set Up Medical ID
Apple's Medical ID can make selected health information and emergency contacts available from the Lock Screen without requiring the phone's passcode. Open the Health app, select the user's profile and Medical ID, then review the settings for what should be visible during an emergency.
Don't Forget the Simple Stuff
Technology is only helpful if your parent can actually use it.
- Make sure the phone is charged every day.
- Keep the charger somewhere easy to reach.
- Consider putting a charger in the car.
- Make important contacts Favorites.
- Use large text if vision is becoming difficult.
- Turn the ringer up if hearing is an issue.
- Make sure voicemail is set up and not full.
- Teach your parent how to make an emergency call.
- Write down the phone's passcode only if your parent wants a trusted person to have it.
What If Mom or Dad Stops Answering?
Location sharing can give you information, but it should not create false reassurance.
A phone sitting at home does not necessarily mean your parent is home. A dead battery may stop location updates. Poor service can affect what you see. And someone can leave their phone behind.
If something is truly out of character, use the information from the phone as one piece of the picture, not as proof that everything is fine.
Location Sharing Should Not Become Secret Surveillance
There is an important difference between helping an aging parent stay independent and secretly monitoring a competent adult.
Talk about why location sharing might help. Decide together who can see the location and when. Your parent should understand what information is being shared and with whom.
Both Apple and Google provide controls that allow users to stop sharing their location.
Have the Conversation Before There's a Crisis
Instead of saying, “I need to track you,” try explaining the actual problem you are trying to solve.
Maybe Dad still drives and you want to know he made it home after dark. Maybe Mom walks every morning by herself. Maybe a parent is starting to become confused in unfamiliar places.
The goal is not to take away independence. The goal is to use a tool they already carry to help them keep that independence more safely.
A 10-Minute Phone Safety Check
- Is location sharing turned on?
- Who has access to the location?
- Does the trusted family member know how to find it?
- Are emergency contacts current?
- Is medical information current?
- Can your parent hear the phone ring?
- Can they read the screen comfortably?
- Do they know how to charge the phone?
- Do they normally carry the phone when they leave home?
- Have you tested everything together?
Sources & Technology References
Phone features and menus can change as Apple, Google and phone manufacturers update their software. If an instruction on this page does not match the phone in front of you, check the manufacturer's current support instructions.
Trying to Keep an Aging Parent Safe?
Location sharing is one small tool. My Aging Parents library can help you work through driving, memory, living alone, health changes, Medicare and caregiving decisions before a crisis makes the decisions for you.
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