If someone you love has dementia, you will know how stressful it can be, worrying about them getting confused or lost while out and about. Even if you have dementia yourself, the fear of becoming lost can mean you miss out on important exercise and social interactions.
For those with dementia living in aged care facilities, it can be doubly frustrating as staff often can’t spare the time to accompany or supervise residents who might naturally like to go for walks or can generally get out and about safely.
The issue has led to the often controversial practice of ‘locked’ dementia wards to ‘prevent wandering’.
GPS devices have been trialled and introduced in some settings in recent years to help solve this problem – the idea being that the person with dementia can feel free to leave their home or room and participate in activities, while their whereabouts can be known at all times.
But use of GPS in this way has also been controversial with some feeling that the ‘surveillance’ breaches the person with dementia’s freedom and independence.
Read more here.
Read more here.
