My husband, who has Frontotemporal Dementia, has started wandering. I am trying to find a GPS tracking device that could be a bracelet which he could not easily remove. He had a cell phone but would not carry it on him and won’t wear anything around his neck. Any suggestions?
21 Answers
Helpful Newest
First Oldest
First
There are "tags or tiles" that can be placed on luggage so you know where it is. That same tag or tile could be put in or on a shoe, belt buckle, in a wallet.
All the devices all the care you take may not prevent wandering. (my Husband was an escapee several times, scary to say the least and I did all sorts of things each time and he still found a way)
I told myself that I would keep my Husband home as long as it was safe.
Safe for him for me to care for him.
Safe for me to care for him.
Safety is not just physical safety. It is mental, emotional safety as well.
Your husbands diagnosis and decline WILL effect your health as well. Given your circumstances you need to take that into consideration.
Placing your husband in Memory Care is not "giving up, not a failure" it is admitting that he needs more care than you can provide at home. (that may mean sleeping with 1 eye and 1 ear open for who knows how long)
Your husband will probably stop wandering...when something happens that will curtail his walking. That could mean a fall or his decline will reach a point where it will be more difficult for him to wander.
You need to take care of yourself. If your doctors are unaware of your husbands diagnosis PLEASE share it with them they need to know what you are going through.
2 of the hardest things to do as a caregiver:
1. ASK for help
2. Accept help.
You could write a book!
I know you asked about trackers, but do you also have the door alarmed so you’d know if he left? Mum doesn’t wander, but there’s always a first time, so I have Wyze door sensors that will notify my phone if the door opens.
Then she could track him on her phone.
A sr. would not probably even notice this in his pocket.
ADVERTISEMENT
https://www.keruve.com/
https://projectlifesaver.org/about-us/where-we-are/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ekq15GL21Q
https://www.wltx.com/article/news/local/street-squad/lexington/project-lifesaver-bringing-help-to-those-with-dementia-in-lexington-county-south-carolina/101-e9e8fc22-7f33-47d9-81c3-fad1f5be88ee
https://www.rcsd.net/our-programs/project-lifesaver/
Please get him evaluated for memory care; when you put your head on your pillow at night, you can keep your sanity if you know where he is and that there are eyes on him while you sleep.
Take care of you so that you can have some semblance of good mental and physical health.
See All Answers