More states are considering creating a “Silver Alert” program to help authorities quickly locate individuals who have wandered from home because of dementia-related illnesses such as Alzheimer’s.
Lawmakers in Wisconsin and Indiana have said they will propose bills to create the program, and a newspaper in Tennessee is calling for similar action. Any new programs would join 13 states that already have created Silver Alerts.
The need for the program is clear. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, more than 60 percent of Alzheimer’s patients who are suffering from dementia will wander from their home or care facility.
States participating in the program now include:
- California
- Colorado
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Texas
- Virginia
In Wisconsin, State Sen. Mary Lazich is heading a bipartisan effort with Rep. Amy Sue Vruwink. Lazich is a Republican and Vruwink a Democrat.
A common concern for officials is the cost of the program. For example, two years ago New York state elected not to implement it citing costs. But the Wisconsin lawmakers believe the technology already in place for such programs as the Amber Alert reduces the cost impact of a similar program for Alzheimer’s-related dementia.
In Indiana, Republican Sen. Pat Miller will introduce a bill for a Silver Alert program. Interest in the effort grew when lawmakers in neighboring Kentucky unanimously approved a bill creating the “Golden Alert” program, identical to the Silver Alert. In its first year, Kentucky’s Golden Alert helped find 12 Alzheimer’s patients who had wandered from home.
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