Abstract
Three out of five persons with dementia wander and get lost (Alzheimer’s Association, 2016). The search for missing persons is costly (Sharples, 2009), and the incidence of missing older adults with dementia continues to rise with population aging. Whereas 5% of previous search and rescue cases for missing persons involved older adults, this is now nearly 50% of cases (Neubauer, Laquian, Conway, & Liu, 2018). If not found within 24 h, up to half of those lost will sustain serious injury or death (Alzheimer’s Association, 2016), a major concern for first responders and caregivers alike (Neubauer, Hillier, Conway, Beleno, & Liu, 2018). Currently, there is a petition for a Canadian National Silver Alert strategy that cites Alberta and Manitoba as the only provinces that “established a Silver Alert, through an amendment to their Missing Persons Amendment Act” (House of Commons, 2018). This case study describes our experience in amending Alberta legislation and presents cautions about the national petition.
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References
Alzheimer’s Association. (2016). 2016 Alzheimer’s Disease facts and figures report. http://www.alz.org/facts/.
House of Commons (Canada). (2018). E-1588 (ELDERLY).https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-1588.
Neubauer, N., Hillier, L. M., Conway, C., Beleno, R., & Liu, L. (2018). Reflections of the use of locating technologies with persons with dementia: Proceedings of a key stakeholder forum. Neurodegenerative Disease Management, 8(3), 195–205.
Neubauer, N., Laquian, K., Conway, C., & Liu, L. (2018). Development of a guideline of best police practices in locating lost persons with dementia. Canada: Mitacs.
Sharples, T. (2009, April 25). Get into trouble outdoors—Who pays for the rescue? Time Magazine. http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1892621,00.html.
Acknowledgments
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AGE-WELL NCE (Aging Gracefully across Environments using Technology to Support Wellness, Engagement and Long Life Network of Centres of Excellence).
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CABHI.
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Project team members: Noelannah Neubauer, Christine Daum, Carlo Oliva, Lili Liu, Ron Beleno, Mike Auty, Eleni Stroulia.
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Project partners: Alzheimer Society of Calgary; Carya; City of Calgary Strategic Services Age-Friendly Strategy; Alzheimer Society of Ontario; Alzheimer Society of Toronto; Memory & Company; Calgary Police Service; Coquitlam Search and Rescue; BC Silver Alert; Toronto Police Service; Durham Police Service; and Cobourg Police Service.
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Liu, L., Neubauer, N., Daum, C. (2021). Case Study: From Stakeholder Engagement to Policy Change—Lessons from Alberta’s Bill 210, the Missing Persons Amendment Act (Silver Alert). In: Sixsmith, A., Sixsmith, J., Mihailidis, A., Fang, M.L. (eds) Knowledge, Innovation, and Impact: A Guide for the Engaged Health Researcher. International Perspectives on Social Policy, Administration, and Practice. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34390-3_40
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