Project Overview

It is commonly known that 3 out of 5 people living with dementia will wander. The consequences can vary and include minor injuries, high search and rescue costs. If not found within 24 hours, there is a high chance of injury or death. The purpose of this proposal is to examine the application of technologies for understanding, assessment, and management of wayfinding risks among persons living with dementia in their communities. We propose four studies. Impacts are realized through five products: (1) a reliable and validated measure that predicts risks of going missing, (2) a mobile app that uses the predicted risk levels to recommend a personalized strategy for people with dementia and their care partners to mitigate these risks, (3) a brief scale to assess the usability of technologies used to locate a person who is  missing, (4) a national coordinated strategy for the collection of data on missing older adults to inform programs, product designs, and policies, and (5) algorithm-informed search using unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for finding missing or lost persons living with dementia.