A new Hato Hone St John survey suggests many families misjudge how much immediate help older relatives have at home in a medical emergency.

Among people who use medical alarms, only 42 percent say they have someone nearby who could help. Nearly 60 percent of adult children, however, believe their parents do. The study also found adult children are more anxious than their parents about a medical incident: 86 percent report some level of worry, compared with 66 percent of people with medical alarms and 73 percent of non-users.

The findings, drawn from a late-2025 survey of more than 1,300 New Zealanders including those aged 65+ and adult children, point to a generational disconnect: older people often don’t see immediate help close at hand but aren’t especially anxious; their children assume help is there but worry more about what happens if it isn’t.

The survey lands as more older New Zealanders live alone, up seven percentage points over the past decade to “more than half” of respondents. Women are over-represented: 62 percent of older women live alone, and women make up 74 percent of older people who live alone. Most respondents (84 percent) are taking medication for an ongoing condition, and one in four reported a fall or an unplanned hospital stay in the past year.

Despite those indicators, the preference is to remain at home. Seven in 10 say they want to stay where they are for the rest of their lives, moving only if health declined severely or a partner died. With more than one million people expected to be aged 65+ by 2028, the question of what support exists for those living alone is growing more urgent.

Hato Hone St John, which runs the St John Medical Alarm service, says the numbers are a prompt for practical family planning. “As a country, we need to shift the conversation,” said Nick Coley, General Manager Telecare. “Families need to work together with each other and with health services.”

The release includes the example of Betty King, 84, who lives alone in One Tree Hill. After a fall in the bath late last year left her unable to stand and the water running cold, she triggered her pendant alarm. Call-handlers couldn’t hear her but contacted her daughter and sent responders. “It gives me peace of mind,” her daughter said. “It could have ended very differently if Mum didn’t have her alarm.”

St John says services such as medical alarms, Caring Caller, Waka Ora Health Shuttles and falls prevention programmes are becoming part of a broader safety net, designed to keep older people connected to help when needed while offering reassurance to families.