My Dad has Alzheimer's and its early so he will go for walks but I'm afraid he will get lost one day. Any advice?

All good suggestions, especially the ID tag and alerting the local PD.

Some of the most workable are hard to implement, as I've discovered.

If your father doesn't have a simple to use cell phone, get one for him. He doesn't need a Smartphone, just comething he can use. Consumer Cellular has very reasonable plans without any contract requirement. If you or your father are an AARP member, you can get a slight discount on the monthly cost.

I typed then printed labels which we attach to Dad's cell phone with (a) speed dial instructions and (b) my phone numbers and those of his church friends. If confusion sets in and the speed dial instructions become confusing, he still has real phone numbers to call.

Of course, he'll have to turn it on and that's often the stumbling block.

Perhaps you can find some way to share your enthusiasm for his walks so that he'll tell you when he goes and returns. Let him share the pleasure he gets from the walks and he'll be more likely to tell you about them. Go with him if you can.

That's the arrangement we have. Dad also generally goes in the evening or weekends when the neighbors are at home.

I have a med alert pendant for him which he now wears everywhere. As I wrote in another post, the GPS tracking for "wander management" isn't as advanced as some life alert companies represent it to be, but I still think a med alert pendant is a must for seniors whether they're susceptible to wandering or falling.

Losing household things is something we have and are still dealing with. When it happens, I tell Dad to wait until the next day when it's easier to find things and not such an urgent or unsettling issue. Sometimes a fresh look is all that's needed. If the items aren't found by the next time I come out I'll search for them. It's not an ideal solution though.

Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a few weeks before they turn up, which is why I always keep additional checks in case they're the missing items.

This isn't an easy situation to resolve but sympathy and understanding helps moderate the anxiety and the frustration of knowing that you can't find things.

I don't have any good answers to the collection of trash issues other than to try and spend time with him on the day the trash is set out so he's otherwise preoccupied. And if you can do, it take the items without his knowing it and put them out with your own trash.

I think this is a Depression Era throwback and that's not something that's going to change easily as survival was ingrained in those who experienced the Great Depression.

There is a shoe with a GPS chip so you can track his whereabouts, it was specially designed for long-term care dementia patients who are fond of wandering. Check the details in the link provided below:

http://www.infolongtermcare.org/iltc-news/gps-shoes-aid-memory-care/

In addition, it would be more comfortable and does not restrict their movements

Check with your local sheriff's department. Where I live they have a program that provides a monitoring device. They are not bothered by having to assist families in this way....it's their project and they are trained on how to help.

I agree about the ID tag. You can get a bracelet with his name, address, and your phone number on it. Make sure you get the kind with the complicated clasp so your dad can't take it off.

He may get lost one day on one of his walks. All you can do is prepare for that day and have a plan for him once he's unable to take his walks.

As I was reading your post I was thinking of the movie, "On Golden Pond" with Henry Fonda. I was remembering when Henry Fonda's character, at the beginning of his dementia, took a walk he'd taken a thousand times, and got lost. Good movie.

Definitely the ID tag and alert the local police department to his condition so they can return him to you. Share your dilemma with his doctor and ask when it will be time to get him into a Memory Care facility. If he was a wartime vet, the VA will help you.

If Dad balks at wearing an ID tag/bracelet, you can buy them in "dog tag" style to wear around the neck; he may be more willing to wear something that looks like army-issue dog tags!

In addition to the suggestions above, there is a type of GPS shoe that you can get and which indeed does work. The challenge is that you need to charge them every day. But they are regular shoes with velcro straps (Aetrex Navistar). There a slight bulge at the back of one shoe which is where you charge the GPS unit built into the shoe. My problem has been my mother is stuck on wearing the same pair of shoes from a long time ago, and it has been some degree of familiarity for her, so we haven't been able to get her to change shoes yet. I expect I will use eventually to get her to use the GPS shoes this summer as the weather gets better. There is also company (GTX Corp) making a GPS insole device to go into existing shoes. I had hoped that would be here by now, but it isn't. GTX provides the GPS for both the shoes and the insoles. I also have a GPS tracker for her purse, but that has annoyed her more than anything.

He can't go on walks alone anymore. Chips and the police sound like good ideas, but that is a waste of their time. He might cross the street and get hit by a car. No one said it was easy.

The local Sheriff's department here provides a device that goes around the ankle, and cannot be removed. It contains a GPS tracking chip. The problem with the shoes is that he may decide to wear a different pair or none at all. My understanding is that there is no charge for the GPS service from the Sheriff's department. And it is County Sheriff, not local PD that do this.

I got a cell phone for my mom years ago and track her via her phone - gps. Plus her phone has only the important phone numbers so if anything happens a person can use her phone to call us and she does not have to remember the numbers. Turned out our family loves the feature and we all have it turned on and we can see where each is without constant calling/texting to ask where are you? (was great when my son was a teenager too)