A group of students at an Arkansas junior high have developed a tracking device to help caregivers locate loved ones with dementia or Alzheimer’s. Inspired by the frequency of silver alerts in their area, Pottsville Junior High School students Josie Holland, Natalia Gullett, and Loralai Hodge designed the tracker to make it easier to find missing individuals. After two months of development, they created a system where caregivers register a unique code with their loved one’s information, allowing anyone who finds them to scan the code and report their location.
When a person scans the code, they are directed to a Google form asking for their location and contact information. This information is then sent directly to Tiffany Horton, community education coordinator for Signet Health at Dardanelle Regional Medical Center, who facilitates dementia caregiver support groups. Horton immediately contacts the finder and coordinates with authorities to make sure the missing individual is safely returned to their family.
The students are proud of their project and its potential to ease the burden on caregivers. Horton praised their initiative, saying their work helps address a critical need in the community. The students plan to educate local law enforcement on how to use the trackers and will present their project at an annual student technology conference.
Source: KATV