Program to Begin Tracking ‘Wanderers’

About 150,000 people in the Los Angeles area are afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease, a dementia that can cause memory lapses and loss in mostly elderly patients, according to the national Alzheimer’s Assn.

“Every one of those persons is a potential wanderer,” said Karen Jacobsen, director of the association’s western region branch and chief of the local Safe Return program, aimed at tracking Alzheimer’s patients who wander from their homes and speeding their safe return.

The program begins Saturday in the San Fernando Valley.

Many Alzheimer’s patients forget their names, where they live and other critical information about themselves, and sometimes wander away from their loved ones or care giver. Safe Return is designed to help track down those who wander away by registering them in a national data base, assigning them a removable bracelet that includes coded information, an identification number, an 800 telephone number, iron-on labels for clothing and a wallet photo identification card.

Registration in the program costs $25, but financial assistance is available. Sign-ups begin Saturday at the Sunland Senior Center, 8640 Fenwick St., Sunland.

Cathy Judy, director of the Sunland facility, said the program is badly needed, and is not limited just to Alzheimer’s patients. Anybody with a memory impairment can register, including “seniors who have had strokes, or who are stressed and losing their memory,” she said. Mentally disabled people with memory problems may also register.

The Specialized Ambulatory Geriatric Evaluation Clinic at Encino Hospital registers Alzheimer’s patients regularly, said Celeste Bocian, clinic coordinator.

“I’ve already registered six patients,” Bocian said. “For $25, it’s like an extra insurance policy. Even if people haven’t wandered in the past, they could at any time, and the dangers are great. As soon as the person is missing, the care giver can identify the police and the hospitals, and they’ve got an identification number, a photo. It’s easier to find them.”

Bocian said she has had patients who forget where they are and simply wander away.

“One fellow just climbed out a window here and wandered six miles,” she said. “He didn’t know where he was, but was smart enough to stop a policeman. It’s very scary.”

For further information about where and when to register in the Safe Return program, contact the Alzheimer’s Assn., (213) 938-3370.