Media
Release
For
immediate release
March 3, 2005
For more information:
Stacey Johnson, Alzheimer Society of Canada
(416)488-8772, ext. 244, pr@alzheimer.ca
Alzheimer
Society and Police Groups Collaborate on Safely Home
Program --New
resources for wandering registry being shared with Ontario
first
Residents of Ontario will be the first Canadians to benefit
from a new police training DVD entitled Alzheimer Disease: A Resource for Police & Search and Rescue
Personnel when it is distributed to Ontario chapters
of the Alzheimer Society next week.
The
new resource, one of several produced for the Alzheimer
Society’s Safely Home™ --
Alzheimer Wandering Registry program, is a collaboration
among the Alzheimer Society of Canada, the Alzheimer
Society of Ontario, the Ontario Police College (OPC),
the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and other police
and search and rescue groups across Canada. The DVD,
and accompanying material, will help train police for
interactions with people who have Alzheimer's disease and
related dementias.
"The Alzheimer Society’s registry has always
been about peace of mind for people affected by Alzheimer's disease and related dementias," explains Stephen
Rudin, executive director of the Alzheimer Society of Canada. "Today
the program is even better because of the input police
groups have had in developing the new resources and because
of the commitment they have made to use training materials
created specifically for their members."
The OPP also provided their expertise to assist in the
creation of SEARCH is an EMERGENCY, a planning
manual for organizations like long-term care facilities
that care for people with Alzheimer's disease and related
dementias. The manual was a pilot project with select Ontario
chapters of the Alzheimer Society and its purpose is to
assist health-care professionals in case people in their
care get lost.
"The OPP are committed to serving our communities
and recognize the need to establish partnerships with agencies
such as the Alzheimer Society of Ontario and Canada," says
Sgt. Don H. Webster, Provincial Search and Rescue Coordinator. "By
lending our expertise to a training DVD for police and
search and rescue personnel, we are able to do our jobs
better and people with Alzheimer's disease benefit from our
heightened awareness. It's a winning combination for all
parties."
Approximately
20 to 60 per cent of people with dementia will become
lost outside the home and research indicates that it
is vital to locate a lost person as quickly as possible
to reduce the chance of injury or death.
The Safely Home registry lists names and other pertinent,
personal information in a confidential database that can
be accessed only by police in Canada and the US.
The
one time fee to register is $25 (that includes a bracelet
with an identification number, a Caregiver Handbook and
ID cards) so while registrants have relatively nothing
to lose by adding their name to the database, they have
everything to gain if they require the service some time
in the future. [Note: The registration fee for Safely Home was changed to $35 on April 1, 2006.]Currently, 18,500 Canadians are registered
with the program.
News
conference today
Media are invited to attend a viewing of Alzheimer Disease: A Resource for Police & Search and Rescue
Personnel that dramatizes five everyday scenarios
where police interact with people who have Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer Society and OPP spokespersons will
be available to discuss the new materials, as will caregivers
who have been helped by the Safely Home registry.
The
news conference is taking place at the OPP detachment
at 2682 Keele St. (at the 401, west side of Keele). It
will begin at 10:00 a.m.
Over 11,055 residents of Ontario are registered with
Safely Home. An estimated 157,850 Ontarians over 65 have
Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia. Alzheimer's disease
is a progressive, degenerative disease that destroys vital
brain cells. It is the most common form of dementia, accounting
for about 64 per cent of all dementias in Canada.
About the Alzheimer Society of Canada
Founded 27 years ago, the Alzheimer Society of Canada is
a not-for-profit health organization dedicated to helping
people affected by Alzheimer's disease. The Society provides
support and educational programs for people with Alzheimer's disease, their families and caregivers, and promotes public
education. The Society also funds research into finding the
cause and cure for the disease and into improved methods
of caregiving. Please visit www.alzheimer.ca for more information
about the Society and Alzheimer's disease.
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