Hints From Heloise

Dear Readers: This column is a follow-up to a column we printed about wandering and the elderly. We received some helpful information from the Alzheimer’s Association and wanted to pass it along to you.

The Alzheimer’s Association has a program called Safe Return. It is the only nationwide program specifically created to help identify and return to their loved ones individuals who are memory-impaired due to Alzheimer’s disease or a related disorder.

Since 1993, when the Safe Return program was founded, more than 1,000 registered people with Alzheimer’s who have wandered from home have been returned to their families. More than 28,000 people currently are registered in Safe Return.

The program provides registrants with a personalized ID bracelet and other identification materials, and it stores contact information in a national computer data base. There is a one-time fee of $25. A toll-free 800 emergency telephone number is available for reporting missing or found individuals, and linked to a computer network of 17,000 law-enforcement agencies nationwide. For more information, call the Alzheimer’s Association at 1-800-272-3900 (United States and Canada). - Heloise