Alpena Senior Citizens Center Offers Miles For Memory GPS Tracking Bracelets To Help With Dementia
The Alpena Senior Citizens Center recently received a grant to improve the quality of living for seniors in the area. They currently are making Alpena safer for those experiencing Dementia with their Miles for Memory program.
“We are talking today about the miles for memory which is a GPS tracking system for memory which is a GPS tracking system for individuals that have a cognitive impairment or Dementia and their caregivers. So we received the funds for this program through the Michigan Health Endowment Fund and that is gonna help us to make the Alpena community safe, Dementia friendly and Dementia safe” said Annie Hepburn, director of Alpena Senior Citizens Center.
The GPS tracking system is installed in a bracelet that has a Miles for Memory logo on it.
“These are the bracelets and they also, if somebody wandered off or maybe they were you know, confused and people recognize them walking down the street and they just looked confused, there’s a QR code and the individual that registers the person with Dementia or their caregiver, their personal information is on here. But only as much information as they want to give. The neat thing is with the QR code, if somebody scans that, that bracelet, the information is triggered to the person’s, the caregivers or the emergency contact person’s phone number so they get that information” said Hepburn.
The bracelets can also be used for other cognitive impairments and medical issues. The grant for this program is titled D.R.E.A.M. which stands for Dementia, Resources, Education, Advocacy and Mentorship.
“This program, we really collaborated with, we really focused on collaboration with this particular grant. We collaborated with first responders, people from Sheriff’s department, the police department, the state police, the medical people across the street, the ambulance drivers, EMS, so we’ve got a wonderful, wonderful support team that’s gonna be working with us on this particular project. We all went through an 8 hour training about a month or so ago and we learned a tremendous amount and we also learned that there’s a huge need to bring these tracking systems into Alpena” said BJ sander, program manager of Alpena Senior Citizens Center.
On March 14th and 15th from 1 to 3pm, you can call the Alpena Senior Citizens Center at 989-356-3585 to register for a Miles for Memory bracelet.
