I have a elderly relative with dementia. She still likes to go out and see people, go shopping etc, but her memory is slipping away. She won’t carry a phone. We are thinking about getting a tracker to put in her handbag. Obviously, this isn’t an instant fix but I can’t see it as doing any harm. I’ve had a look online but I was wondering if anyone here had experience of this? I’m also curious about running costs, as that isn’t very clear (but obviously not a major consideration). iPhone app tracking app is about the only requirement. Thanks.

I have some experience thanks to my Dad who died with Alzheimers and presently, my neighbour, who has the disease.

In my Dad’s case, during the phase of the illness when he was active he did wander off a few times, most memorably when he decided he wanted to walk into town for a haircut. No harm came to him apart from a rather severe scalping and the fact that he lost his expensive walking jacket. Eventually he was found, quite late in the day, wandering around the town when there were few shoppers on the streets. By visiting all the barbers in town next day we found his coat. Later as the illness progressed he ended up in care and wouldn’t have been able to wander off anyway.

My neighbour nips to the shops and at the moment is able to find her way home, a good thing because her husband is not well enough to go out to find her.

We never considered a tracker with my Dad, in any case he probably would have left it in his coat pocket. It would certainly give reassurance when they wander off and are late home.

https://www.thetileapp.com/en-gb/

Asbo tracker ?

Spooky post, I’ve just had to start looking into the same stuff for my father, doesn’t need it yet but has just been diagnosed with the big A (and it’s not cat aids!) .
I may try one of the cheap gps sim enabled trackers from amazon / eBay and see how it goes . I am also ordering some business cards with his name, address, various medical issues and my contact details so they can be stuffed in his wallet, jacket pockets etc. On a slight thread hijack anyone obtained power of attorney for a parent, how do you do it?
Getting old sucks:(

Re poa, you can either find a lawyer and spend several months and hundreds of pounds, or fill in standard forms off the inter web and do it yourself. In either case the parent has to be competent to agree.

Power of Attorney? Yep, you can download the necessary paperwork here https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney/make-lasting-power

Note that the parent applies in effect, and because the paperwork needs third parties to agree and sign that the applicant still has the capacity to make decisions at the time, you need to do it before they become too advanced to do so.

You can do it via a solicitor, but they’ll charge £500 per LPA. There are two types of LPA, one for financial affairs and one for Health and Welfare. I would advise getting both.

Also note that if you don’t do it under this procedure and wait until the parent is too far advanced to be able to understand and sign the process, you will have to apply via a court. That is far more complicated and expensive. Don’t delay.

Cheers Scapegoat and the captain,

Running costs will be whatever Sim you use so a cheap data sim will do.

Not sure if it helps, but for my grandad we got an ‘Ownfone’. It’s a very basic preprogrammed phone that holds a few emergency numbers with a button for each. He wears it on a cord round his neck.

Not that I’m suggesting you use either but there are ‘good quality’ dog ones, so it wouldn’t be that much further of a stretch for a young child/elderly version
http://www.retrievatracking.com/

Landing page

Thanks for the thoughts. The Bluetooth type ones won’t be any use as she won’t carry a phone. The Ownfone may work. Business cards are a good idea as well.

Power of Attorney- get the paperwork in place now as suggested above. This doesn’t entitle you to do anything at this point but, when it becomes necessary, you can apply for the Power to be granted (by the Court of Protection if I recall) and then you can assume control of your parent’s affairs.

I don’t know who you’ll have as attorneys but if there will be more than one of you be careful of ‘joint’ POA because you’ll have to have all attorneys present to get stuff done. ‘Joint and several’ doesn’t require this.

Also, financial institutions are remarkably clueless about POA. The number who will unnecessarily require the original doc, not a certified copy (which should suffice), is frustratingly high, and we are on our third ‘original’ because the stupid sods keep losing them.

Re poa if you are an only child you can act on your parents behalf solely. If theres say 3 of you i d make it so any 2 can act. If you have power to act solo and theres a few of you, i d be a bit worried.

Not being alarmist but i m sure i heard biggest reported fraud is within families.

We have just done ours, any 2 of the 4 can act. This allows for holidays, abscence etc.

Making people act jointly is a pain, I’d suggest you should only do it if absolutely necessary. All sorts of risks of unforeseen problems otherwise. All of us siblings live miles apart and have different strengths and weaknesses, I don’t think it would work at all if we had to formally agree on everything any of us did.

dfpr above is substantially wrong regarding the details of arrangement. Note also there are generally two different types of PoA, financial and welfare.

Am in the same situation. We were fortunate enough to get one of these trackers through local Alzheimer’s Scotland, I think they had a few to trial. Works well, and my Dad seems happy to keep it in his pocket all the time. Has removable battery so you can buy extras and change them daily (needs to be changed daily; runs down quicker as movement triggers it to locate itself). Originally tried a phone but bulkier and needed charged in cradle, and just wasn’t as simple. Use an App to locate and we have used it a few times having spent best part of a night hunting for my Dad who had gone out and got lost. Not sure re ongoing Sim costs but basic contract so I don’t think huge.
https://www.rewiresecurity.co.uk/102-nano-gps-tracking-device-hard-wired-kit