When someone has Alzheimer Disease or another dementia, he/she might lose the ability to recognize familiar places and to communicate or remember his/her own name or address. The person might leave home, become confused, and get lost.

The Alzheimer Society offers two programs to reduce the risk that people with dementia will be harmed due to getting lost: MedicAlert Safely Home and Finding Your Way.

MedicAlert Safely Home is a national program designed to help identify those individuals with Alzheimer Disease or another dementia who are lost and assist them to return home safely. Personal information about the individual is engraved on an identification bracelet or necklace worn by the person with dementia to help quickly identify people with dementia who have become lost and return them home safely.

Finding Your Way is an education program that provides resources to people with dementia, their friends and family members, and members of the community about strategies to reduce the risk that people with dementia will become lost. The Finding Your Way Program also offers tools and strategies for reducing the time period that someone is lost if the individual with dementia goes missing.