“Wandering” is a phenomenon that affects 60 percent of all Alzheimer's sufferers. Of those individuals not found within 24 hours, up to half can suffer serious injury or die. It is a primary focus for the Alzheimer’s Association, which is committed to helping individuals with Alzheimer’s age safely at home as long as possible.
To help deliver on that mission, the association established the MedicAlert + Safe Return™ program—a low-cost, low-tech service aimed at helping to locate individuals who wandered. Persons enrolled in the program, which continues to be offered, receive an identification bracelet that contains a toll-free telephone number for the Alzheimer’s Association’s 24/7/365 call center. Anyone finding the lost person calls that number and receives immediate assistance.
While the Safe Return program had provided effective, life-saving services for 15 years, the association wanted to capitalize on new technology to provide a service that would enable families to proactively locate the person with Alzheimer’s, thereby reducing stress and promoting independence. It was particularly interested in understanding how new technology products might be applied to limit and manage the incidents of wandering.