REAL Services is dedicated to helping elderly seniors and low-income people become and stay independent for life. If you or someone you love needs help, call REAL Services at 574-233-8205.
By: REAL Services + Home Comfort Experts
It’s a caregiver’s worst nightmare: Your loved one has wandered out and gotten lost, disoriented, or confused and can’t find their way home. If your loved one is suffering from Alzheimer’s, dementia, or an intellectual disability, that’s a terrifying thought.
Wandering is a common behavior among people living with dementia — 60% of people with dementia will wander at least once in their lifetime, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Many of those people will wander multiple times.
From getting stuck out in the elements to accidentally walking into traffic, wandering can be dangerous, and even life-threatening, for a person living with Alzheimer’s or dementia to wander. That puts real stress on caregivers and family members.
Fortunately, Alzheimer’s and Dementia Services of Northern Indiana , a program of REAL Services, offers a solution. They’re called Community Awareness Returns Everyone Safely, or CARES, ID bracelets, and they help reunite caregivers and their lost loved ones safely.
CARES ID bracelets are simple devices designed with a QR code on them. If someone discovers your loved one wandering, they can simply scan the QR code with their smartphone’s camera to find out their name, their caregiver’s name, and their contact information.
People interested in acquiring a CARES ID bracelet for their loved one may attend an informational meeting at Alzheimer’s and Dementia Services of Northern Indiana at 111 Sunnybrook Court in Roseland. Meetings are hosted at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. each Monday and Wednesday. To receive a bracelet you must make a one-time donation of $20 to Alzheimer’s and Dementia Services.
When you activate your bracelet, you’ll have access to a complimentary, one-year subscription to MyID Plus services. To learn more about the bracelets, call 574-232-4121.
