How to request a wellness check on an elderly parent

By Bojan Gasparovic, who makes AmiFam · October 28, 2026

Before you call

The police will ask what you have already tried, so do these first if you can:

• Call again, and send a text or a WhatsApp message
• Call a neighbour, a friend or a relative who lives nearby
• Ask anyone with a key to go to the door

For the full list, see what to do when an elderly parent is not answering the phone.

In the United States

1. Find the non-emergency number of the police department or sheriff's office where your parent lives, not where you live. Search for the town's name and "police non-emergency".
2. Call and say that you want a "welfare check" or a "wellness check" on an older person who lives alone.
3. Give the details from the list below.

Some towns also run free daily call programs for older people, often called RUOK ("Are you OK?"). Ask the local police or sheriff whether they have one.

In the United Kingdom

1. Call 101, the police non-emergency number, and say that you have a concern for the welfare of an older person who lives alone.
2. Call 999 instead if you believe there is a risk to their life right now.

The police decide whether they go, or whether a health service or the ambulance service is the better fit. They can force their way in only when they believe a life is at risk, so a key holder nearby still matters.

In Spain

1. Call 112 if you believe it is an emergency. It works from any phone, in all of the EU.
2. If it is not an emergency, call the Policía Local of your parent's town. In smaller towns and rural areas, the Guardia Civil covers it (062); in larger cities, the Policía Nacional (091).

Give the full address, with the town and the name of the urbanización or the building if there is one. Many addresses on the coast are hard to find without it.

What to have ready

• Your parent's full name, date of birth and address
• How to get in: who has a key, the gate or door code
• Their phone numbers
• Health problems and medicines that matter, for example diabetes or a recent fall
• When you last heard from them, and what is unusual today
• Your own phone number, so they can call you back

What happens next

An officer goes to the address, knocks and looks for signs of life. They may talk to neighbours. Then someone calls you back. If nobody answers and they think a life is at risk, they can go in.

Most wellness checks end with a surprised parent at the door who simply had the phone on silent. That is a good result. Do not feel bad for asking.

So you need one less often

A wellness check is the last step. It helps to know sooner, and to know more, before you get there. AmiFam is an Android app that shares a normal day from what the phone already does: the first unlock in the morning, the charger, a low battery, the phone turning off or on. You can get a notification when your parent's phone is not used for 3, 6, 12 or 24 hours during their day.

Then a missed call looks different. If AmiFam shows that the charger was unplugged ten minutes ago, you wait. If the phone has been off since last night, you call the neighbour sooner. AmiFam never shares location, messages, calls, contacts, photos or the apps someone uses.

AmiFam does not call emergency services. It tells the family, and the family decides what to do.