Finding Missing Senior Is A Different Challenge In Finding Them

More missing persons cases are involving seniors with cognitive impairment, and that's creating different challenges for people trying to locate them.

"Don't assume that these people won't wander or walk away," says Gene Saunders, who was a commander of special operations at the Chesapeake, Va. Police Department.

Saunders started seeing an increasing number of searches involving patients with Alzheimer's disease.

"Calling out their names was not an option because they don't tend to answer or help you in any way. They are not going to act as what we might think a so-called reasonable person would do in their movements or where they might stop."

A number of unsuccessful searches frustrated Saunders.

"Not only that, but when you started looking at the cost involved and a number of people who became involved in some of these searches... it became astronomical."

Saunders came across a tracking device using radio frequency and designed a program to supply seniors with dementia with a bracelet.

"If they go, we just tune into the frequency, go out and track that frequency," he says.

Saunders launched Project Lifesaver as small pilot program 11 years ago. Now, it's used in 45 states.

Saunders believes the more society can do to help save lives and reduce cost for law enforcement, "it will also allow these people to be able to stay home longer."

Retired FBI agent Robert Schaefer knows the challenges faced by searchers and caregivers firsthand because he cared for his wife with Alzheimer's for more than 20 years.

He now volunteers with the Department of Criminal Justice Services in Virginia and shares his experiences with first responders.

"They have to learn to think outside of the box. They have to learn to think differently because as a person progresses through the disease process, they are not able to think logically, the way we would think. So you have to kind of put yourself into their position and try to discover where they are in the course of the disease and how they are thinking," Schaefer says.

Time is one the biggest challenges in these types of missing person cases, Schaefer says. And people need to call for help as soon as they discover their loved one is missing.

"There is hesitation to call first responders in to assist because you feel you can find the person," he says.

Schaefer understands that feeling because he was a care partner himself, but says that is a big mistake.
Studies show first 24 hours is critical in order to find the missing person alive.

In addition to calling for help as soon as possible, there are many precautionary measures caregivers can take:

Learn what you can do to keep them occupied and distracted

Pay attention when they start talking. Sometimes they give you clues. While we may not understand it, they may start talking about going to work, going home, going to visit someone, or going to pick up someone.

Disguise or lock hazardous area inside of your home like covering doors and windows to prevent the patient from wandering.

Make sure your neighbors know about the situation so they can alert you if they see a person wandering outside.

Know that no matter what you do, you may not be 100 percent successful in preventing him or her from wandering.

Saunders adds that it is important to relay all information to law enforcement if and when the person goes missing. He says Alzheimer's patients are capable of cashing checks, using credit cards or ATM cards, and catching trains and buses, for example.

Both Saunders and Schaefer say the population with cognitive impairment is only getting larger - putting a bigger demand on public safety agencies.

Schaefer helped make Virginia one of the first states in the nation to offer special training for missing persons cases with cognitive impairment.

He says the training helps law enforcement officers not only in the searches, but also in everyday encounters.

"A Virginia state trooper brought to my attention (a case) that had occurred about a week after he had been through the training. And this did not involve a search, but he stopped a female in the middle stages of dementia who was driving an automobile. And he wasn't able to get her out of her car. She was totally uncooperative. And he remembered how we had told him to deal with unusual behaviors that might arise and that he had to think outside the box. That's exactly what he did to encourage that woman to get her out of the car."

Schaefer is also the author of the book, "Alzheimer's: The Identity Thief of the 21st Century." Click here for more information about the book.
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