GPS locators for Alzheimer's patients: watches, apps and limits
The fear every family with Alzheimer's at home has is that their loved one goes out and can't find the way back. There are tools that help, each with its own role and limits, and one question to ask first: what does the person consent to, and what dignity do we leave them?
When an older person is diagnosed with Alzheimer's or another dementia, disorientation often comes before dependence: for months or years they keep going out on their own to shop, take a walk, go to Mass. That is exactly the stage when a locator makes sense, and also the stage when they can still (and should) decide about it.
First, consent
As long as the person keeps their capacity, the locator is theirs: it's explained to them, they're shown how it works, and they decide. Carrying something that follows you without you knowing isn't care, it's something else. When capacity is lost, the decision passes to the family or whoever holds legal guardianship, and even then it's best to choose the least intrusive option that works and to review it with the doctor and social services. In Spain, consent and health data protection are regulated; a locator on someone who can't consent is a protective measure, not a convenience.
The options, from most to least suitable
1. Mobile telecare
Regional and town council telecare services have mobile versions: a device with GPS and an alert button that connects to a 24-hour call center, designed for someone who goes out. It's the option with real people on the other end and, often, the cheapest or even free. You request it through social services.
2. GPS locators with SIM (watch or pendant)
Devices with their own GPS and SIM card, sometimes with a lock so they can't be taken off, an alert if they leave a usual area, and a help button that calls the family. Some town councils lend them (Mazarrón, in Murcia, Spain, lends locator watches to families of people with Alzheimer's). What to check: battery life (a day or two), 4G coverage, indoor accuracy, the cost of the SIM plan and, above all, whether the person actually wears it.
3. A phone with a family location app
Only if the person uses a phone and carries it with the battery charged. Then a circle app gives you the map, the "I'm okay" button and alerts. In Mi Estela, Senior Mode (large text, few buttons) and the gentle check-in (if they've been still for many hours, it alerts the people they chose; they turn it on themselves) help in the early stages. We'll say it plainly: when the person no longer handles the phone or leaves it at home, an app stops working, and it never replaces telecare or emergency services.
4. What doesn't work (or works poorly)
- An AirTag in a handbag or coat: it isn't real time, it depends on iPhones being nearby, it has no help button, and it triggers alerts on other people's phones. Apple says it isn't meant for people. Why.
- Sharing location on WhatsApp: it lasts 8 hours and has to be turned on every time.
- Apps that promise to locate a phone by its number: they don't exist.
What helps besides the device
- A card in their wallet and a bracelet with their name and a contact phone number.
- Letting the neighbors, the local bar and the usual pharmacy know: the neighborhood network finds people faster than GPS does.
- Going-out routines at fixed times, which are easier to accompany.
- Alzheimer's family associations in each province can guide you on all of this and know the local resources.
Sources
- Mazarrón City Council: loan of locator watches for people with Alzheimer's
- IMSERSO: definition of the telecare service
- Apple: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking (Feb 10, 2022)
