I have a neighbor who played pro football. He has dementia caused by CTE. While he was still driving, his wife asked me to help her find a tracking system for him. That was 1.5 - 2.0 years ago, before she sold his car.

I came to the conclusion that an Apple product with ”Find Me” was going to be the best answer. However, he was long past learning to use a smart phone. He had a flip phone with 4 numbers programmed into it, his wife, his daughter, my husband, and me.

There are a number of tiles, bracelets, etc. available. The problem is that some of them will not work indoors, some are “crowd-sourced” ( as I understood it, word would have to go out that he was lost then the folks around him would try to pick up his signal). All of them have to be on or with the person being tracked. Our friend was concerned that her husband would get into one of his contrary moods and leave it behind on purpose.

Does she drive? If so, you can put LoJack or something similar on the car. Of course, it only tells you where the car is, not where she is.

Have you looked at an Apple Watch? It not only has ”Find Me,” it also will call emergency services if she falls. (I know I say this in every thread. Truly, I do not work for Apple. 😉)

My mom's home is only 5 minutes from here. Early last year, I bought a Wansview indoor security camera/nursery monitor and set it up in my mom's living room/dinette, where she spends most of her time. I can check on her with an app on my phone. It has sound too. I keep thinking about getting another one or 2 to cover more areas of the house, but have not done so yet. It wasn't too expensive either - only around $35.

There are a number of brands offering similar devices. The one I bought is wired, but I see they now have wireless options. It swivels and rotates and you control it from the app - it can be shared with other family members too.

Thanks. These responses are very helpful. I think I will go look at apple watches before deciding. Apple Store employees are usually pretty good at explaining things at my level.

She doesn't drive anymore, but lives at the edge of a 100 acre forest. She hasn't wandered off yet, but we have brutal winters and I'm starting to get concerned.

I would really like the camera, but I'm worried my brother will think I'm spying on him. I'll have to tread carefully if I go that route, but it sure would give me some piece of mind.

Would something like a door alarm notification to you work? I don't know how people with dementia are supposed to remember to charge batteries. If your brother cooperates and does it, then no problem, but if he's not on board....maybe he'd agree to a door alarm so he could be notified if she leaves the house (unless she regularly goes out on her own).

I didn't know there was such a thing, Oly. I was about to dismiss it, because she goes out in the yard by herself fairly often. However, once winter sets in, if she goes outside, someone should be with her. It's so hard to plan. As things change with her condition, I can see that it's so easy to misjudge her abilities and likelihood of doing something like wandering. Last winter it wasn't an issue, but in a few months who knows and when it is -35 Celsius you don't get a second chance.

I think there was a reference to the door alarm feature in that article I posted above. Yes, it would be nice to have in the frigid weather and could be disarmed in the Spring when the weather isn't such a worry and she'd be going outside more on her own.
My grandson wears an apple watch and I know it's partially so his parents could track him if needed (he's 11) but it does have to be charged fairly frequently, so that just doesn't seem workable for someone with memory problems.

GPS tracker necklace (available for kids, pets, people with dementia, etc.)

Charging the battery is something my brother can help with - as long as he stays stable. If he goes off the rails, we will have to move her. However, part of this is that I'm in a state of semi-worry most of the time not knowing if he's gone off the rails. If something happened, I can't count on her to tell me. I try and call once a day when I know he should be there and she will say, "Yes, Carl is here", but if I call and he's not there, she has no clue if he hasn't been there for an hour or two days. A lot of the stress is that I need that sense of control and stability and the situation is very much not stable and so much is out of my control. I look at some of my friends who are only children trying to do it all and know I should be grateful, but sometimes it seems it would be easier. I guess that is good to keep in mind that maybe I need a device(s) that will give me that sort of info.

I'll try to read the article today. I just have to get a ton of work done and then drive out to see her. Every week, I entertain this fantasy that there is a train I could take there, so I could get my school work done (and catch up on GW, of course) rather than it be a waste of 3 hours.

If you simply want a door alarm, they can be easily found and easily installed. I found this with a cursory search: https://www.amazon.com/GE-Protection-Installation-Apartment-45115/dp/B00178HMCI?th=1

The apple watch also needs to have some regular contact with an iPhone or other apple device. It's not a completely stand alone device, although it doesn't need a daily connection it does updates through a connection with an iPhone. It needs charging roughly every 24hrs. Mine often doesn't last the full 24hrs, but I also use it to check my blood sugar several times a day so may be why mine is slightly shorter and I also use it to track work outs etc. which could impact the battery life. In contrast my DH and kid uses Garmin smart watches and charges theirs once a week. I went from a Garmin watch that I really liked to the apple one because of being able to check my blood sugar on the watch instead of opening the phone, but the battery is still something I miss. So look at any other options as well in other watches and see what can be tracked. Apple also have the AirTags that you might be able to use several of to put in places such as her winter jacket, car, keys, etc. to also help track. Maybe one could be made into a necklace. It doesn't have the fall option though.

Nevermind on the Airtags - they use bluetooth so more limited range to devices that are in the vicinity. Doesn't have to be your personal device, but probably won't cover someone out in a forest unless lots of people around with devices it can report it's location from.

I’ve been doing some reading on Apple Watches lately, because I’m going to buy one soon (tried to buy it today online but the Apple Store has been offline for the past couple of hours). The Series 7 advertises that the battery life is 18 hours. However, a quick charge will get you to 80% in 45 minutes. Of course, Apple sells you the device you need to quick charge. 🙄

ETA: More reading reveals that the quick charge device comes with the watch. However, the piece that is between the cord and the outlet is sold separately, Apple believing that eveyone in the world already has one.

I have never tried tracking devices, although I had the same problem. I found a more efficient way out of the situation. I bought them a phone and installed the application here https://www.familyorbit.com/blog/phone-monitoring-apps/ so I can look online where they are and what they do. That way, I can see them, and if something is wrong, I suddenly call them. And it's more convenient to communicate, plus they make new friends on the internet. But you already see how you think it will be more convenient for you because it already depends on everyone's situation.

Have you seen this list of tracking devices? Its from the Alzheimer’s information page.

https://www.alzheimers.net/8-8-14-location-devices-dementia

I have a neighbour here in Alberta who got her father insoles (I think it's just one of the pair) with tracking, so they're in her shoes; not sure if they were bought in Canada or in the US, where they travelled often in the before times. He's much better at remembering to put on his shoes than a watch or wristband when he leaves the house.

Also, in our family we find that our iPhones and Apple watches tend to lose battery power very quickly outdoors in the winter. I'm wondering if an insole benefits from more body heat, and keeps the battery warmer?

thanks for bringing this back up, becky and for letting me know what worked for them. I had been thinking shoes would be the best place to put a tracker because she always puts them on first thing when she gets dressed and leaves them on most of the day. the fact that it would stay warmer didn't occur to me.

the article maddle linked has a sole tracking device listed.

I'm going to spend some more time looking at the different options in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, my brother ordered some cheapie device that she wears and can push a button to call me on my cell if she needs help. This is fine if she is able to push it and/or remembers it's there, but really not going to be that helpful.