Locating the Lost: High-Tech Help for Alzheimer's Patients

Nov. 4, 2010— -- When 87-year-old Ray Olson starts his daily morning walk, his wife starts the clock.

For about two years, Olson, who lives with his wife Joy Olson, 83, in San Jose, Calif., has been taking medication for dementia. At first, he would just forget little things, she said, but as his lapses became more serious, she began timing his morning walks.

If he didn't return home within an hour, she'd hop in the car and start driving around to find him. But after a couple of walks that lasted too long, she decided to seek some extra help.

Through the local sheriff's office, she learned about EmFinders, a technology company that uses the 911 network to locate missing people, and ordered one of its wristwatch-like tracking devices.

In the beginning, Joy Olson said, her husband wasn't too fond of the bracelet, refusing to wear it around his wrist but reluctantly agreeing to attach it his belt.

When the band helped her to locate him after he wandered off one morning, she said, his attitude toward the device changed.

"He doesn't verbalize it, but I know he didn't protest anymore when I put it on his belt," she said. "In fact, he actually picked it up himself and started to put it on his belt. He seemed to sense that somehow or other this was important to him and regarded his safety. ... So, of course, it made me feel a lot better to go have him go out with it on."

Tracking Technology Can Provide Extra Layer of Protection

Joy Olson knows that if her husband wanders off and becomes lost, "time is of the essence."

Like many family members who care for people with dementia and Alzheimer's disease, she's turning to technology to help give her peace of mind.

"People want mom to be safe, but you don't want mom to be isolated and not able to engage in the world around her," said Elinor Ginzler, senior vice president for the AARP. "For some people who have dementia, getting lost is anxiety producing and so this could, in fact, be a solution -- clearly for the caregiver ... but also for the care recipient as well."

Tracking technology is among the "most emerging and fascinating" areas of assistive technologies, she said, and for those seniors who are in early- to mid-level stages of dementia, it could provide an extra layer of protection.

Wanderer Does Not Always Know That She Is Lost

But though the category is emerging, it offers a wide range of options.

Julie Davis, chief content officer for the online senior care resource ParentGiving, said that among the more helpful tracking services for Alzheimer's patients are those that let the caregiver initiate the emergency contact or search.

"The wanderer does not always know that they are lost," she said.

Cell phones and other devices that give users an easy way to make an SOS call may be fine for someone who is fully coherent and knows, for example, that she needs help after a fall.

But Davis said that for Alzheimer's patients, "I don't know that they're always going to be at that level of cognitive function where they know that they're in a dangerous situation."

The device used by the Olsons, for example, is EmFinder's EmSeeQ band, which costs $225 and then $25 for service.

EmFinder, LoJack Let Caregivers Initiate Search for Missing Loved Ones

The user wears the band at all times and when the caregiver notices that he's missing, he or she can call the operations center to activate the band. The system then triangulates the user's position through the location of cell towers and the device calls 911 with that information. (The company said it chose cellular technology over GPS technology because it burned less battery power and enabled more consistent coverage.)

Joy Olson said that when she activated the band to find her husband, it took just 20 minutes for the local police to locate him through EmFinders.

Jim Nalley, the company's CEO, said he founded the Frisco, Tex.-based EmFinders to make it easier for patients of Alzheimer's, autism and other conditions to call on the 911 system in times of emergency.

"When you and I are in trouble, we can pick up the phone and we can call 911, they know our location and they can send help," he said. "Well, these folks, they can't do that. Many of them can't do that. ... When they're lost, they need help because they don't even know they're lost."

LoJack, the Westwood, Mass.-based company famous for helping people locate their cars, also offers a product that helps people locate their loved ones.

Trackers Let Caregivers Locate Loved One's Position on a Map

For $30 a month and a $99 enrollment fee, LoJack offers a service called SafetyNet that relies on radio frequency technology. A company spokesman said that, compared to GPS technology, radio frequency provides better service indoors and in urban areas, but SafetyNet is only available in select markets across the country.

SafetyNet customers wear a bracelet around their wrist and, when lost, a caregiver can notify local law enforcement. In areas where the service is offered, law enforcement can use a radio frequency receiver that can detect the signal emitted by the customer's bracelet.

Last year, the Alzheimer's Association launched a service of its own called ComfortZone that uses both GPS and cellular technology. Through a cellphone-like device, which patients keep with them, family members can locate loved ones on a password-protected online map.

Prices for the service begin at $42.99 a month (with a $45 activation fee) and enable customers to not only follow users online but also receive text and e-mail alerts when they travel outside predetermined safety zones. Less tech-savvy family members also have the option of calling a monitoring center instead of using the Web.

The SecuraPal Guardian, from the Hermosa Beach, Calif.-based SecuraTrac, LLC, also uses GPS and cellular technology. It can be purchased for $129.99 and $19.99 per month, or it can be rented for vacations and other short trips for $9.99 a day.

The device can be used by children, seniors and others who may need special attention, and as long as the user keeps the pocket-sized gadget with them at all times, caregivers can keep tabs on the user's location.

Caregiving Expert: Explore Different Options, Educate Yourself

But whatever kind of technology you choose, Beth Kallmyer, senior director of Constituent Services at the Alzheimer's Association, said it's important to make sure that it fits the lifestyle of both the caregiver and the one being cared for.

"The upside of technology is that it offers us options and support in different ways that we hadn't thought of before. The downside is that people have to be comfortable with it," she said.

ComfortZone, for example, was designed with flexibility in mind, she said, so that it could work for a range of family situations.

She also said that technological support isn't necessarily for everyone and, though it can helpful, it should never be thought of as a replacement.

"One of the most important things for us is that people educate themselves and look at the different choices," she said. And given how rapidly the disease can progress, "recognize that there are things that work now that might not work as well later."