What to do if You're Concerned About the Health of a Neighbour

We should all try to be a bit more vigilant and show a little more interest in our neighbours, especially those who might be elderly or who live on their own, particularly with regards to any health issues they might have.

Telltale Signs That A Neighbour Might Be In Poor Health

There are often many telltale signs that a neighbour’s health may be in jeopardy simply by walking down the street or when you’re coming and going to and from work or to the shops in your car. Permanently open or closed curtains can be a giveaway as can newspapers sticking out of letterboxes for an unusual length of time. There can be all manner of reasons why you might suspect something might be wrong but if you strongly sense that something is not quite right, there is absolutely no reason why you should not feel the urge to just go and check to see if a neighbour is OK.

If you know their phone number or can find that out, take that option first and if you’re able to speak with the person concerned, just tell them why you felt the need to call and ask them if they’re OK. Alternatively, if you’re not their immediate neighbour, ask the neighbour who lives next door about the current situation before you take any action as they may be able to reassure you that all is well.

Dealing With The Elderly

The elderly, in particular, are often most at risk of falling ill without anyone realising and they can also be renowned for being the most stubborn when it comes to accepting they are sick and in need of help and are also not even willing to consider help from neighbours close by. If you’re able to gain access to a house where you suspect an elderly person (or anyone of any age, in fact) is in poor health and in need of help, sit down for a while and just pass the time of day with them a little. Talking about life in general will often help them open up a bit more to you and they’re more likely to discuss issues such as their general well-being etc.

Recognising They Might Need Help

You don’t need to be a first-aid expert or to have any kind of medical knowledge whatsoever to determine whether or not a person’s health is a potentially life-threatening situation. Just sitting and chatting to them, observing them and their surroundings will often give you clear signals that all might not be well. Do they look clean, is the house reasonably tidy? Go into the kitchen. Does it look as though they’ve had a meal recently? If they have pets, have their pets bowls got any food and water in them. Are there signs of pet urine or faeces? Do their pets seem fretful or concerned? Often, it’s what you observe around you which will tell you a lot more than the person concerned will express verbally.

What To Do In A Potential Emergency Situation

If you cannot contact a person or any of their relatives on the phone or gain access to their home and you suspect that their health might be in grave danger, you may have no option but to call the police or social services and report this. Obviously, you’ll need to have some reasonably sufficient grounds for them to investigate the matter. For example, if you know the person visits the same places at the same time each day and they haven’t been seen for days and there are indications that all isn’t quite right such as instances where newspapers have been sticking out of letterboxes for days on end, then it’s reasonable to call the police or social services to ask them to investigate the matter further.

In the event you can gain access and the person has lapsed into unconsciousness or has some other serious health issues, e.g. for example, they may have fallen down the stairs and not been able to move due to, perhaps, a broken leg, you need to call the ambulance service straight away, carry out any first aid which may be needed and wait for help to arrive.

Non-Emergency But Worrying Situations

If you’ve been able to gain access to the house and have spoken to the person concerned, yet are still troubled by what you witness with regard to their health, try and find out if they have any relatives. You can always weave this into a conversation, just prompting them to perhaps give you the contact details of a relative they could get in touch with if they were to become ‘really’ poorly.

Then, if you’re able to get that information from them, you could always call the relative, expressing your concerns and simply advise them that it might be worth checking up on their relative. Perhaps the person themselves might be willing to offer you a key in return for you running a few errands for them so it’s easier to let yourself in. Perhaps you should give them your phone number and tell them not to hesitate in calling you if they’ve got any problems or you could maybe ask them for theirs or ask them if they’d object to you visiting every few days.

All situations of this nature are very different and determining a level of concern isn’t always easy or straightforward. Often tact and diplomacy play a big part as well. Gaining trust is another issue and, where possible, you need to try to enlist the help of relatives to also act as ‘lookouts’.

Ultimately, however, if you think that a situation could be life threatening, you need to call the emergency services or, at the very least, get in touch your local social services department.