ICELAND: Senior Citizens Given Security Phones

REYKJAVIK (Iceland Review), February 13, 2007: One hundred senior and debilitated citizens in Reykjavík, currently on waiting lists for service apartments where they are given constant support, will have special security phones installed in their homes as a trial. The City of Reykjavík is handing out the phones in cooperation with security company Öryggismidstöd Íslands. They will be tried out among 100 individuals for six months, as Fréttabladid reports. By pushing one button, users of the security phone will be put in connection with an employee of Öryggismidstödin. If they prove successful, 500 to 700 people could have such phones installed in their apartments. The phone is designed to provide a feeling of security among senior citizens who live at home but who are on waiting lists for service apartments or who need significant support to live in their own home. Each security phone, and the work behind it, is estimated to cost ISK 70,000 (EUR 800, USD 1,000). © Copyright icelandreview.com (Heimur hf)