Get inked for protection

Taking the fingerprints of convicted criminals is a standard procedure – but now it seems so too is inking the fingers of loved ones affected by dementia.

Taiwanese people were recently encouraged to have their loved ones with dementia fingerprinted at police stations to make it easier to find them should they become lost, the Focus Taiwan News Channel reported.

According to secretary-general of the Taiwan Alzheimer’s Disease Association, Tang Liyu, the fingerprinting method is more effective than a bracelet or necklace tracker because “those with the affliction might reject them”.

Ms Liyu says having fingerprints stored in police databases can help officers bring dementia sufferers home more efficiently, and there may be an increase of memory loss and wandering as the population ages.

“We need to seriously look at dementia and its related problems, such as wandering around because someday we might be the ones personally involved,” she said.

Taiwan Alzheimer’s Disease Association is also collaborating with stores and restaurants to help locate and bring wandering people home through the design of dementia-friendly stickers for shops willing to offer elderly people assistance.

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