Columba Bracelet for wandering Alzheimer’s patients.
April 25, 2007 by Liz Lewis
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
Wandering and getting lost is a serious issue for Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers. Some ways to minimize the risk of wanderiing include:
- conceal and/or camouflage doors
- install locks and alarm systems
- put labels on doors explaining purpose of room, ie bathroom, kitchen, bedroom
- figure out when wandering is most likely to occur and distract the person with activities during this time
- reassure them that they are in the right place
But if these simple measures fail or seem too restrictive, there is a much more technical way of keeping track of the Alzheimer’s patient – the Columba bracelet. It looks like a watch but provides global positioning system (GPS) tracking.
As Mary Emma mentioned in her earlier post Should Alzheimer’s Patients Be Electronically Tagged, there is mixed reaction to the idea of tagging and tracking someone.
But the Columba bracelet allows the Alzheimer’s patient more freedom and liberty and could provide sole caregivers peace of mind. The caregiver can set a pre-defined geographic area and if the patient leaves this area, the device will automatically sound an alert.
This alerts the 24/7 medical assistance center who can locate the bracelet wearer through GPS and communicate not only with him or her but also immediately contact the family to organize rescue of the person with Alzheimer’s disease.
Let us know what your think of using such a device by leaving a comment and voting on our new poll Should Alzheimer’s Patients Be Electronically Tracked?
Liz, great information in this post. The Colomba bracelet seems like a great idea…if the Alzheimer’s patient will keep it on. They often won’t wear items that are foreign to them and even take things, like wedding rings, glasses, hearing aids, off because they’re living in an earlier era when they didn’t use them.
this is a great idea (I need this for my sister). Does this device already exist? How can I look into getting one? thanks
hi mari,
far as i know it’s only available in france and spain at the moment but check out this website Medical Mobile to find out more. Suggest you email them to see if bracelet is available where you are.
cheers,
liz
People have no clue if they think that something like this is unnecessary. I do, however, think a much simpler set of devices would be more practical and cost effective.
Basically a set of tags to put on clothes, shoes, on familar wrist watches, or belt that can be GPS tracked is all that is necessary. The Columba with it’s voice feature is a bit too much and makes the device bulky. Also the hookup to the community fire/police is unnecessary. What happens if one goes with them on a vacation in another area.
A simple two part system is necessary, one is the tracker device that the family holds, and the other are the tags on the person at risk for wandering.
People need to put aside all the issues of if this kind of setup is misused, ie. to track or spy on friends, putting it on people without their knowledge, etc., etc. What we as CAREGIVERS OF PERSON’S WITH PROBABLE ALZHEIMER’S need is a way to keep them safe. No wanderer will feel their rights are infringed when they are scared, lost and just want to go home!
I did see the same idea of this device posted on the internet. The company was called Quest Guard Alliance, and I believe they’re located here in the states. There website is http://www.gpsalzheimerswandering.com, look it up it’s pretty cool.
Sorry, link did not work. It’s http://www.gpsalzheimerswandering.com