'Silver Alert' registries help locate missing people with dementia

Oct. 27--People with Alzheimer's disease and dementia have a tendency to wander.

Now two Cape Cod towns are taking part in a state pilot project to make it easier to find them.

Dennis and Yarmouth are among 12 communities in Massachusetts working with state and elder care officials to publicize "Silver Alert" registries that improve police response time when a person with Alzheimer's or dementia goes missing.

The registries contain identifying information such as date of birth, medical condition and caretaker phone number for people with cognitive issues. The information is kept on file with local police departments to be used in case a person is found wandering or family members report someone missing, officials said.

The registries also include a recent photo, physical description of the person and description of the person's favorite places to visit, said Deborah Thompson, victim services coordinator with the Dennis Police Department.

Officials said the information will allow police to start the search as soon as possible and make it easier for them to identify cognitively impaired people they find.

"Very few families expect a family member to go missing until it happens for the first time," Thompson said in an email. But "over 60 percent of people with Alzheimer's or a related disorder will wander."

And some of those people won't know how to get home, said Susan Antkowiak, vice president of programs and services for the Alzheimer's Association'sMassachusetts and New Hampshire chapter, which is working with the state Office of Elder Affairs on the Silver Alert pilot project.

"One out of six people with dementia will get lost," she said.

And getting lost can be a scary and dangerous experience for someone with a cognitive impairment -- as well as terrifying for family members.

In June 2013, a 79-year-old man with Alzheimer's in Dennis was found stuck in the marsh hours after he was reported missing. An 84-year-old woman with Alzheimer's spent the night in the woods in Woods Hole after wandering off in May 2012.

"Someone with dementia might try to go to their old house," said Yarmouth police Officer Sean Gannon. The Yarmouth police registration form includes previous addresses as well as former places of employment and information about the person's car if the individual is still driving, he said.

Having the information at hand allows police to condense a 10-minute conversation with a panicked family member into a 30-second call when someone with a cognitive impairment goes missing, Gannon said.

"It allows law enforcement to react immediately," Antkowiak said.

"The sooner they begin the search, the better the outcome will be," said Sue Temper, assistant secretary for programs for the state Executive Office of Elder Affairs. With a profile on file in the police registry, family members need only describe clothing because their loved one's physical characteristics and medical condition already will be in the hands of police, officials said.

Massachusetts passed Silver Alert legislation in 2010, but the idea of public safety officials pre-identifying elderly people with memory issues has been around for a while.

The police departments in Dennis and Yarmouth and other Cape towns already keep their own registry of people with cognitive impairments, typically in a notebook in the dispatch area.

Towns participating in the state Silver Alert pilot project are looking for ways to publicize these registration programs and increase public participation -- which is voluntary -- as well as to standardize the forms and determine what information is most useful, officials said.

The communities will share information about what worked best to encourage families to sign up, Antkowiak said.

In addition to Dennis and Yarmouth, Duxbury, Melrose, Gloucester, Taunton, Westwood, Norwood, Amesbury, Dedham, Pittsfield and Ludlow are taking part in the pilot project, Temper said.

The pilot also calls for police departments to team up with their towns' councils on aging to promote the registries and educate the public about Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, officials said.

For the first time, people looking to register their loved ones in Dennis can go to either the Police Department on Bob Crowell Road or the Dennis Council on Aging on Route 134.

"We just joined (the police) as partners," said Jacqueline Beebe, executive director of the council. She said the registration forms became available at her office as of last week.

In Yarmouth, the Police Department is holding an open house from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.Nov. 15 for families of people with cognitive impairments that will describe the Silver Alert registry as well as GPS devices that can be used to track lost individuals, Gannon said.

Towns receive no funding for participating in Silver Alert pilot projects, officials said.

"We call it a pilot," Temper said. "But we really hope to get it to every community across the state."

The next phase of the Silver Alert program will be to provide training for police officers and dispatchers on Alzheimer's disease and dementia and how to identify people afflicted with the disorders, Antkowiak said

In the meantime, Paul Wild, of Elder Services of Cape Cod and the Islands, recommended that "people be proactive" and sign loved ones with Alzheimer's or dementia up for police department registries.

"If the police already have a profile of the missing person it makes their job much easier," Wild said. He said he doesn't know how many towns already have their own registries, but said, "all Cape towns will probably sign on to it sooner or later."

Follow Cindy McCormick on Twitter: @cmccormickcct.

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