Wandering Behaviors in AD patients in India. The Hindu, sept 2011.

Lost and found in 17 hours, The Hindu.

18/09/2011.

By DIVYA SREEDHARAN.

In this first-person account, DIVYA SREEDHARAN recounts her ordeal when her father, a dementia patient, disappeared.

"A t 3.30 am on January 13, 2011, my father disappeared. At the time, he and my mother were on the Yeswantpur-Kannur Express going back to Kozhikode, Kerala, after staying a few days with me and my family in Bangalore.

My father is 80. He is one of an estimated 3.7 million elderly Indians who suffers from progressive loss of brain function. Dementia is a general term for an incurable brain syndrome that affects memory, learning, orientation, language, comprehension, judgement and behaviour. According to the Alzheimer's and Related Disorders Society of India (ARDSI), Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is the most common cause but dementia can also be caused by strokes, Parkinson's disease, a head injury and other incurable conditions.

Dementia patients are in grave danger when they go missing. They can wander around for hours, dehydrated, disoriented. If they are not found within the first 24 hours, he or she may become seriously injured or even die."

..........

"What you can do Sew tags (with the patient's name, age, medical condition, address, contact numbers) on his or her clothes, preferably by the nape of the neck Inform neighbours, relatives, friends, even the plumber, electrician, house help, apartment security guard Keep recent photographs handy Never leave the patient alone anywhere or let the patient and carer travel unaccompanied If put on a new medication, he or she may wander more Get a trained caregiver to help at : Swapna Kishore's blog swapnawrites.wordpress.com For NCAA projects, call (080) 4242 6565/6500 or visit: http://nightingaleseldercare.com/ "

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The Hindu : FEATURES / SUNDAY MAGAZINE : Lost and found in 17 hours