When someone with dementia becomes lost

When someone with dementia becomes lost it is incredibly stressful for the family and friends who are looking for them. In very rare cases the person is never found, or is found too late for anyone to help them.

Police and other authorities have statistics about where people are most likely to be found, and differences between men and women, but the crucial issue is how long they have been away. Put simply, the longer they have gone, the harder it is to cover the search area. They may move slowly, but it could be in any direction in a 360 degree direction. Covering all those angles makes the searchers much slower than the person heading away. It takes a while to look inside the outhouses, and to beat the bushes to see if they’ve got trapped in vegetation.

But in most cases the person is found. If you are in that position, there are three things to consider.

“Police and other authorities have statistics about where people are most likely to be found, and differences between men and women, but the crucial issue is how long they have been away.”

1. Have an emergency plan for what you will do the next time they become lost. You can do this now while you have time to think.

2. Introduce a locator device now, as soon as you can. Getting the person used to it early on helps, or you can find one that the user is less aware of and less likely to discard.

3. Join the Herbert Protocol. There is more information about it here. You can also search for it on your local police website.

There’s more about all of this in my book Dementia the One Stop Guide which is also available as an audiobook, for carers on the move who don’t have time to read.