Caring for a senior with dementia is worrisome, especially if your charge has a tendency to wander. Statistics suggest that 60 percent of people with dementia will get lost at least once and often more than once.
People who have been accustomed to taking walks every day don’t take kindly to having someone tell them that they can’t go out alone. In an effort to allow people to be as independent as possible, for as long as possible, every effort is made to allow them to come and go as they please. Whether you work in an assisted living facility or are looking after a parents well-being from a distance, having them wander off and get lost is a constant worry.
Your parents may be perfectly capable of managing their personal activities of daily living, but it would not be unusual for him/her to get confused when away from familiar surroundings. You don’t have to be deep into Alzheimer’s to get lost. Take it from me. I am directionally challenged and could get lost in a parking lot. The difference is that I can problem solve, call for help, or ask questions. A person with dementia may not know that they are lost and might not even remember their name. What can you do to make your memory challenged elder safer without taking away his/her privileges altogether?
A GPS tracking device provides a better quality of life for your memory challenged elder. They can still have some independence and freedom of movement while you, the caretaker, can have more peace of mind just knowing where they are.
One method mentioned in an article by Wang Hongyl, (McClatchy-Tribune Business News. Washington: October 16, 2010) talked about a small device that could be worn on the wrist like a watch. The device sends signals via global positioning satellites. If a person walks away from home a short message is sent to the phone of the person responsible.
I like that idea but learned from experience that residents that I was responsible for would quite diligently remove or cut off banding devices. I’ve since then read three articles about tracking devices embedded in shoes. This sounds much more practical because while a person might fixate on removing a bracelet or leg band they wouldn’t be bothered by something hidden in a shoe. Getting dressed and putting on shoes is a memory that people will retain the longest, and they wouldn’t think about going for a walk without putting on shoes. A tiny GPS chip in the sole of a shoe provides continuous tracking and a caretaker could locate their charges with the click of a mouse. A tracking “geo-fence” could also be placed around a person’s home and an alert sent to a cell phone or computer when the boundary is crossed.
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