Grandma LoJack?

July 8, 2005 11:46 AM

My 87 year old grandmother is in the midst of decline suffering from Alzheimer's and now believes she needs to go to work each day. She lives across the street from my folks, but has taken to 'escaping' and wandering all around town. Has anybody heard of/seen/used any type of "Grandma LoJack" device to track her down, or better yet, send out an alarm when she gets too far from a base unit in the house? (I.e. if she walks more than 50 yards from the kitchen or something an alarm would go off at my folks house or it would make a phone call.) She's got an ID bracelet now with an 800 number on it, but that's only good when/if they find her.
posted by GernBlandston to technology (14 comments total)

I cannot answer your question, but unless you get a good solution here, and maybe even in spite of a good solution here...

For your grandmother's safety, it is time to do something about her living situation; an assisted living home, move her in with your parents, you move in with her, something. If she is getting out, she could get hurt. Even if you know where she is, it could be too late.

I'm sorry. I don't want to sound like someone who wants to take the rights away from older people, but having been the grandson of an Alzheimer's patient, and seeing what the disease can lead people to do, I know how dangerous our relatives can unfortunately be to themselves.

Lock her inside (bad idea in my opinion), or get someone to be with her at all times (good idea in my opinion. Those are your options for someone who is starting to wonder the streets.

I'm really sorry for your grandmother and for how difficult this time will be for you and your family. Good luck.
posted by pwb503 at 12:10 PM on July 8, 2005

This page on the Alzheimer's site gives a few tips. You don't say how far apart the houses are - I wonder if something along the lines of a baby monitor would work? The linked page also talks about having a signal at the door, so you (the caregiver) knows when it's been opened - perhaps there's a way to rig one so the alarm would sound at your folk's house?
I also notice that the Alz Assoc. says to put a full-length mirror near the door - maybe for distraction.
Unfortunately, as pwb503 suggests, it may be time to consider a different care situation. There are many options, from in-home care, adult family homes to assisted living facilities.
Having now moved my own mother three times, all I can say is - get personal references if you can, and really look at how the facility is set up. My own mother started to wander and where she was living just was not set up for that - and she had to move in one week!
Best of luck, and consider going to some Alzheimer's support group meetings, they are quite helpful.
posted by dbmcd at 12:24 PM on July 8, 2005

When I was in school I spent about six weeks working at a nursing home for mentally ill elderly people. Those that were prone to wandering were outfitted with something called WanderGuard. They had to wear a wrist or ankle bracelet that was about the size of a bulky watch and I believe that it set off some kind of alarm if they went out the front door of the home. I don't know if there is something available like you describe, with some kind of base unit, but it may be worth looking into.
posted by mokujin at 12:26 PM on July 8, 2005

My friend lost his mom this way last year. When they stop being able to discern their surroundings it's time to get them into a more secure place.

Please make a change before it's too late.
posted by Four Flavors at 12:30 PM on July 8, 2005

You might want to look into some of the new RFID technology out there. It's the same kind of stuff they're starting to use in Japanese high schools to track where all the kids are. A simple setup could be used to track where she is in her house and could easily set off alarms if she left a pre-determined area. This is the same stuff that has been used in department stores for loss prevention for years now.
posted by JudoGno at 12:33 PM on July 8, 2005

If you do do the WanderGuard stuff mentioned on the page, this page, despite the focus on autism, appears to have a U.S. contact for the WanderGuard product (the main Google listing comes up as a UK firm).
posted by WCityMike at 12:36 PM on July 8, 2005

Thanks for the replies.

I should clarify that she lives in small apartment that's attached to my brother's house across the street from my folks. They've got an alarm on the door that dials phone numbers to alert them, but it's only on one door. She's in a day care deal 5 days a week. She spends 5 nights at my parents for dinner, and 2 night and all weekend with my uncle.
posted by GernBlandston at 12:41 PM on July 8, 2005

in my experience there are no easy answers to things like this, and people telling others what to do when they don't know all the details doesn't help much.

this company appears to have some products available.

a gps based solution was available, but that site semes to be down and the same company now apparently doesn't have this product.

here's another gps based product.

unfortunately this study suggests it isn't as useful as you might hope.

for more links, try googling for phrases found in the link above. for example, once i found the first link i realised that "keep track of elderly" was a good search string.
posted by andrew cooke at 12:42 PM on July 8, 2005

24/7 monitoring is necessary but almost impossible in a family situation. Wandering seems to be a frequent charactersitic of an Alzheimer's sufferer. Her family should probably consider assisted living for her. That seems cold and uncaring, but it is just the opposite.
There are places with electronic alerts to protect the residents from getting lost. Good luck. This is not an easy situation.
posted by Cranberry at 1:18 PM on July 8, 2005

This looks like it may be something close to what you are looking for. It has a base unit and an alarm sounds when your bracelet-clad grandmother strays more than 300 ft away. And through some kind of magic, which doesn't look to be GPS, it helps you find your lost grandma. Best of luck to you.
posted by mokujin at 1:39 PM on July 8, 2005

What about just getting your alarm company to put monitors on all the doors, and set the system up to auto-arm and auto-phone you when the doors open? Since it seems like you already have this solution partially implemented, it wouldn't be much trouble to extend it.
posted by odinsdream at 2:16 PM on July 8, 2005

Another answer that does not answer your question: get her help. Assisted care, nursing home, etc. It will only get worse - she needs to have someone physically present, around the clock, who is constantly available to handle situations. When my grandfather was getting worse, my parents put him in the nursing home probably before my grandmother was emotionally prepared for it - because it was to the point that if he decided he needed to protect her from the television (which actually happened), or some such, she was not able to convince him otherwise. At that point, it was an unsafe situation for both of them.
posted by attercoppe at 5:50 PM on July 8, 2005

suffering from Alzheimer's and now believes she needs to go to work each day.

This sort of false fixed belief has been dubbed 'reduplicative paramnesia'. It is a hallmark of advanced Alzheimer disease.

Regardless of neurologic jargon, it is a red flag to me, often suggesting that the patient might be at a point where round-the-clock supervision is needful or soon will be.

I wish you and her the best.
posted by ikkyu2 at 7:23 PM on July 8, 2005

this is terrible ... i'm with the people who are suggesting that you alter her living situation ... it's sad, but i'm afraid it's time ... she needs someone 24/7 ... the stress on your family trying to provide this could be overwhelming
posted by pyramid termite at 9:39 PM on July 8, 2005