Remember as a child when you felt lost in the grocery store? Perhaps someone helped you find your mom and the relief was immense. Did you know someone with dementia goes missing almost every day in Canada? To be fair, it is quite a vast country and people without dementia also go missing frequently, but we all know how scary it feels when you’re really lost. Luckily, there have been methods created to help prevent this problem and everyone should be aware of them whether dementia hits close to home or not. Prevention strategies boil down to communication. Specialized training certainly helps, but helps even more if there’s communication in the community.
An app has been developed, called “Purple Alert”, to help support those living with dementia. If someone is reported missing, an alert is sent out to the surrounding community citizens who have opted in. In situations like these, the sooner the better is always the case. The following article explores other prevention methods for when at home, as well as out-and-about. If we work together to recognize the problem, we can all become part of the solution and possibly diminish the fatal risk altogether.
To appreciate the larger scope of this issue, “Over 55 million people live with dementia worldwide, and this number if projected to triple by 2050″…
Going forward, be sure to keep your eye out for anyone who looks lost and reach out to your community to see if there’s anything you can do to help! Every person counts in the effort to help those with dementia stay safe. Read more HERE