UK plan to tag the elderly
British Science Minister, Malcolm Wicks, has suggested electronically tagging some of the elderly, to help vulnerable people to stay in their communities and give their families peace of mind.
He says it’s essential to ensure dignity and independence in old age and tagging would offer sufferers, who often experience memory loss, freedom to roam around their communities.
“Frail, elderly people may have dementia, may have Alzheimer’s disease..(and).. satellite technology would enable us to keep track of those people in the best possible sense, so that those elderly people, often in their 80s and 90s, are secure and they’re safe,” he said.
Some electronics tags work by triggering an alarm if they pass a detector on a boundary. Others can be tracked using a handheld device.
Although not British Government policy and at this stage merely a suggestion, there have already been some trials in care homes across Britain, where elderly people with dementia wore bracelets that helped identify them if they get lost.
The bracelets contained a unique ID code and telephone number which linked to a 24-hour support service.
British charity, Help the Aged, warned it was an idea that would need to be implemented with caution, saying that a crucial issue is, whether the care will be better for the person with dementia or is it just about convenience?
