Please do not lecture elderly

REGARDING?the article Council operator alerted emergency services after OAP burgled . Well done the East Devon District Council operator who reached this accurate and alert conclusion.

REGARDING?the article "Council operator alerted emergency services after OAP burgled".

Well done the East Devon District Council operator who reached this accurate and alert conclusion. Not so well done to the person who patronizingly said: "It underlines the importance of wearing the pendant at all times."

Of course, it is important, but making blanket statements about what people elderly should not do is unhelpful and, in this case, it indicates some lack of understanding of what it is like to be old and forgetful.

My own mother, for example, when asked where her pendant is, will invariably say she thinks it may be beside her bed, or in the bathroom. But, nevertheless, I will probably find it in the kitchen - even if you wrote in six-inch high letters on the wall 'DON'T FORGET TO WEAR YOUR PENDANT'.

Firstly, many would not look at the notice and, if they did, it may, or may not, register with them, and, in quite a lot of cases, what they had intended to do would be forgotten soon after leaving their chair. I am afraid giving orders to the very elderly does not help them at all.

Vernon J Yarker,

Chairman,

The Sheltered Housing UK Association (SHUK).