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By Greg Bartlett

Families and caregivers of those suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia often have justifiable worries over the patient’s safety.  All too often, the patient will wander off and may become lost, injured, or even die.  Some families wish to keep their loved one at home but feel unable to provide the constant supervision which is necessary.

GPS Tracking & Alzheimer's

GPS tracking offers a reliable way to increase supervision of Alzheimer’s and dementia patients.  Devices are often small enough that they can be easily hidden in the patient’s clothing or any items he and she typically carries, or they can be placed on a cord and worn like a necklace or bracelet.  Having the device in something the patient always brings with him or her, whether a purse or favorite hat, helps to ensure that the patient will never be without the device.

Once a patient has been outfitted with a GPS tracking device, families and caregivers can know exactly where the patient is at any time.  For those who are prone to wander and escape despite careful security features, GPS monitoring can be especially helpful.  If a patient leaves the premises, the GPS unit will immediately inform the family and caregiver.  It will then continue to track the patient’s whereabouts, providing directions if necessary, until the patient is located and safely returned.

When an individual with Alzheimer’s or dementia becomes lost, the clock starts ticking and the money starts running.  It costs money for the police and community to look for the lost individual.  It costs time for the family to take off work and join in the search.  But each minute may be important, for if the patient isn’t found quickly, he or she may die of hyperthermia, exposure, or any number of potential threats.  Just being injured, perhaps in tripping over a branch, falling, and breaking a bone, could be potentially life-threatening and at least painful and expensive.

Preventing the patient from escaping is vitally important, but so is finding the patient quickly should he or she manage to escape.  Alzheimer’s and dementia patients will often try to hide rather than wander around in plain sight, so finding the lost patient may be extremely difficult.  GPS tracking, though, provides the supervision that families and caregivers of Alzheimer’s or dementia patient need, both in alerting the family and caregiver immediately if the patient escapes and in tracking the patient’s location after an escape until he or she is found and safely returned.