The Safe Return Program

Click here to request a registration form for the Safe Return Program.

The Safe Return program gives Alzheimer's caregivers and family members peace of mind with:

• A system to help in an emergency
• Access to information for families to prevent wandering and keep their loved ones safe.

Safe Return provides:

• Identification products for the memory-impaired person, including a bracelet or necklace, clothing labels and a wallet ID card. These products are also available for the caregiver.
• Registration of important contact information in a national database.
• Access to 17,000 law enforcement agencies to help find the missing person.
• Connection to more than 200 community-based Alzheimer's Association chapters across the country to provide information and support to families and caregivers.

When a person in the Safe Return program is lost, call the program's emergency 800 number. Callers receive guidance on searching the area, contacting the police, and reporting the missing person. Safe Return stays in contact if a search is initiated, and afterward to help prevent future wandering.

There is no way to predict who will wander or when and how it might happen. The best advice for caregivers is to be prepared!

Alzheimer's and Wandering

Wandering is a common behavior among people with Alzheimer's disease, a behavior which can quickly lead to dangerous circumstances. When people with Alzheimer's wander away from a caregiver, they seldom seek help, do not usually respond to shouts, and leave few physical clues to their whereabouts.

Of those diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders, 59% are at risk of wandering and getting lost at some point in the progression of the disease. Forty-six percent (46%) of those who wander away and are not located within the first 24-hours may die, usually due to hypothermia or dehydration.

Reasons for Wandering

There are many reasons why an Alzheimer patient wanders or walks away from a familiar place:

• Medication side effects
• Noisy/stressful environment
• Time confusion
• Trying to meet basic needs
• Restlessness
• Unfamiliar environment
• Fear
• Trying to meet a former obligation (work, visiting with family or friends).

There is no way to predict who will wander or when and how it might happen. The best advice for caregivers is to be prepared!

How Can Wandering be Reduced?

There is not always a way to completely stop a person from wandering. However, caregivers can do certain things to try to reduce the behavior. The following are some suggestions to reduce the occurrence of wandering.

• Be aware of hazards: Places that look safe might be dangerous for someone with Alzheimer's. Look in and around your home for possible hazards (fences, gates, bodies of water, pools, dense foliage, bus stops, steep stairways, high balconies and roadways where there is heavy traffic). Change what you can or block access.
  
  
• Make sure the person with Alzheimer's disease gets plenty of exercise. Take a walk together every day. Invest in warm boots, waterproof coats, sun hats and any other necessary outdoor protective clothing for both the Alzheimer person and whoever will accompany him/her on these exercise excursions. In bad weather, it may be possible to window shop and stroll in the mall. By exercising regularly, you may ward off restlessness and possible agitation as well as a tendency to wander.
  
  
• Consider having a beanbag chair for the Alzheimer person to sit in. It is comfortable, conforming to the body, yet restricting because it is difficult to get out of without assistance.
  
  
• Consider changing locks on the doors of your residence. Either a deadbolt with a key required or exit or entrance or a simple sliding bolt out of sight or reach may be effective.
  
  
• "Child Safe" doorknob covers fit loosely over the knob so that only the cover turns, not the knob.
  
  
• Alarm systems vary in cost and design, but there may be one that is appropriate for you. A bell hung on the door may work. A jingle tells you the door is being opened or closed.
  
  
• A simple change in the door latch may be enough to keep a wandering person in, for lack of understanding how to work the new latch.
  
  
• A camouflage of a curtain or screen over the exit doors may work. For some people, a 2-foot black painted threshold in front of the door may be perceived as a hole and a place to be avoided.
  
  
• Some families have securely fenced in their yard so that fresh air, exercise, a change of scenery, and safety can be combined.
  
  
• Identification is a necessity. There are several companies that produce identity wear. See the brochure from the Alzheimer's Association on the Safe Return Program.
  
  
• Notify your neighbors and the police of your circumstances. Give them a recent picture of the person with Alzheimer's. Educate them, tell them to be on the lookout, who to call and what to do if they see the person wandering unattended. Keep a list of your neighbors and their phone numbers.
  
  
• Keep an article of clothing (stored in a plastic bag) that the person has worn for a scent in case dogs are used to help find the person. Augment their wardrobe with brightly colored clothing; bicycle reflectors can be sewn onto jackets.
  
  
• Some people won't go out without a purse, proper shoes, glasses, etc. If so, hide the shoes or articles without which the person won't leave home.
  
  
• Communicate with the person: regularly remind and reassure the person with Alzheimer's disease that you know how to find him/her and that he/she is in the right place.