Alzheimer’s and Wandering: The Death of a Brave Woman

It's no myth that up to 60 percent of those with dementia will wander. If not found within 24 hours, up to half will suffer serious injury or death as in the case of Julie Kay Webster. The Safe Return program's greatest challenge is getting persons with dementia enrolled in the program BEFORE a wandering episode occurs. 2/3 of our incidents involve a good samaritan or law enforcement officer calling to report a found enrollee who was never reported missing. This clearly reinforces that wandering is unpredictable and can happen at anytime, even on days when the person with dementia may seem unimpaired. The Alzheimer's Association Safe Return program encourages caregivers and persons with dementia to contact us for more information on wandering and aging safely with dementia at 800-272-3900. We are here to help 24/7. Sincerely, Monica Moreno Associate Director, Safety Services Alzheimer's Association - National Office ******************************************************************** You are 100% correct, Monica. Getting the word out on Safe Return is very important. I've written about it in my column as well as the blog, and I've even referred to Safe Return in a press release. All of us involved with Alzheimer's patients need to do what we can to make people aware that the patient should be registered now - rather than later. Later could be too late. Thanks so much for writing. Carol
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What a sad, sad tale. Made even more so, as you say, by the possibitity that it all may have been preventable by a suitable monitoring or alerting device. Those of us who care for folks with dementia know that our loved ones cannot be relied upon to ask for the help they might need; indeed, thay might not even know they need help. I'd call you attention to systems like Notifex offers, which does not require an ankle or wrist bracelet (which many folks won't tolerate - especially as they likely won't remember why it's there) but will notify a caregiver right away if their cared for wanders. In this day and age, anything we can do to prevent similar tragedies is so important. Thanks so much for your caring.
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