Program Brings Alzheimer’s Patients Home Again

As if the families of Alzheimer’s patients aren’t frazzled enough with trying to feed, clothe, bathe, bed down, and entertain their loved one, they also have to worry about them wandering off and getting lost. Nearly 60 percent of Alzheimer’s patients, in fact, get disoriented, wander off, and get lost at some point during their illness, according to the Alzheimer’s Association in Chicago. Unless these individuals are found within the first 24 hours, they may die from weather exposure, being hit by a car, or other mishaps.

As a result, the association has established a nationwide program to assist in the identification and safe return of lost Alzheimer’s patients. The program is called Safe Return.

Since Safe Return was started in 1993, more than 70,000 Alzheimer’s patients have been registered with it. It has helped locate and return some 5,700 patients to their families and caregivers. The program has also had a success rate of nearly 100 percent in returning registered patients who have become lost.

There are three ways that a person can register an Alzheimer’s patient with the Safe Return program—by calling (888) 572-8566, by calling a local chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, or by registering online at the association’s Web site—www.alz.org.There is a one-time registration charge of $40.

The person who registers someone with Alzheimer’s can then choose the type of identification product he or she would like the patient to wear or carry, such as an identification bracelet or wallet card. Information about the patient is then entered into the association’s national database. If the patient ever wanders off, the individual who finds him can then call a 24-hour, toll-free crisis number, and the Safe Return telephone operator will then help reunite the patient with his or her family.

Additional information about the Alzheimer’s Association’s Safe Return program is available by calling (800) 272-3900 or visiting the association’s Web site at www.alz.org. ▪