Wander Lust: Tools Available For Practitioners Of Elder Care Can Make A World Of Difference

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Family members and other care givers for people with Alzheimer's disease, varied severities of autism, Down syndrome, and other dementia related cognitive impairment conditions are well aware that the propensity to wander off or get lost can be a problem. Those practicing elder care in Las Vegas are no different. As a matter of fact, senior home care practitioners in Las Vegas might find that wandering is more of a problem for them and their care recipients based on the prevalence of stimulation in and around the city. A study conducted by the Alzheimer's Association has shown that more than sixty percent of patients diagnosed with a form of dementia will likely wander at one point or another. This is a major problem that Project Lifesaver founder and CEO Gene Saunders decided he needed to address when he helped to establish the not for profit organization in Chesapeake, Virginia twelve years ago.


Saunders wanted to identify elderly dementia patients who were prone to wandering and becoming lost. Shortly after starting the program, requests came in from all around the nation. Two years later, Saunders ...
... retired and dedicated himself to Project Lifesaver full-time. As a result, the system has been put in place in over one thousand agencies in forty five states in the U.S., three Canadian provinces, and even a government agency in Australia. Elder care and senior home care agencies in Las Vegas will find Project Lifesaver to be an invaluable tool. The program has been shown to cut down search time and manpower cuts significantly. Typically, the average search for an Alzheimer’s patient who has wandered is around nine hours at a cost of fifteen hundred (1500) dollars an hour to the city, but with Project Lifesaver, elder care recipients are typically found within less than a half hour. The program has made it possible for the search to use a single two person team, rather than an entire search party of dozens of police, fire, rescue, elder care providers. It has the added bonus of being a rapport builder with the senior home care recipient’s community.


The program is designed to be set up through police and fire departments, as well as search and rescue agencies and VA hospitals. Some private care facilities are also trained on how to use the location equipment. Elder care and senior home care patients who are enrolled in the program wear a transmitter around their wrist (or their ankle) that is programmed with a unique radio frequency signal. If and when an elder care patient wanders off, the senior home care provider in Las Vegas can notify the local Project Lifesaver agency and the program’s highly trained emergency response team will immediately respond to the elder care recipient’s area. The bracelet uses an RF signalas opposed to GPS, so it can not be blocked and is therefore much more reliable.


This technology is able to give families and elder care providers in Las Vegas much more security and peace of mind. Elder care in Las Vegas is tricky enough, and with the tendency of Alzheimer’s patients to wander, this program truly can be a lifesaver.

Kris Leeds is a freelance writer for Visiting Angels, a leading elder care provider in Las Vegas. To know more about senior home care Las Vegas or elder care Las Vegas services, visit us on the web now!