Sadly, 60% of Alzheimer’s patients will wander away from home at some point during the duration of the disease. When dementia patients are missing for over 72 hours, 80% will not make it back home alive. When you consider that 5 million people suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s, that is a staggering number of lost dementia patients. It’s also particularly worrisome during the extreme summer heat waves that most of Ohio has been facing.
One of the largest senior in-home care companies, Senior Helpers, has launched a program called the “Lost and Found Action Plan.” This plan provides a checklist for the families of elderly loved ones that can literally save lives.
- Provide elderly family members with a smart phone, and create an “If I am lost” folder on the front screen. In the folder include contact information for family members, 911, a cab company’s phone number and the home address of the senior.
- Install a GPS app on the phone, and make sure a GPS is in the car. Be certain that elder family members demonstrate the use of the GPS programs.
- Make plastic laminate cards with all of the senior’s personal information and emergency contacts. Place on in the wallet, and one on the car visor.
- Encourage them to wear ID bracelets, which come in many fashionable designs.
For Dementia Patients:
- Disguise doors in the home by placing pictures or posters on the doors to deter dementia patients from walking out.
- Place door chimes on all doors that have access to the outside to alert family members of an attempted walk out.
- Have a list of all previous residence and job locations accessible to caregivers. Dementia patients often return to former homes or places of employment.
- Consider a GPS device that can be tracked, and place it in shoes or around an ankle or wrist.
