A NORTH-EAST businessman believes an electronic tracking device could help give dementia sufferers a new lease of life.
Charles Bain, of Aberdeen, gave a small tracker to his 79-year-old father to carry in his pocket after he showed early signs of dementia.
When Charles Bain sen later turned up at the city’s Queen Street police headquarters after getting lost earlier this year, his son was able to collect him within minutes.
The tracker uses GPS (global positioning system) so it can locate people to within a few yards. The location of the tracker can be accessed using the call centre, internet, phone or by text.
Mr Bain, of Dubford Avenue, said police were delighted the device had saved them the time and effort required to return Mr Bain Sen.
He said: “Because my dad had been showing signs of dementia, I had bought a miniature GPS tracking system which meant my wife and myself knew exactly where he was at any given time.
“The police were extremely impressed with the device, in terms of the saving of resources that would otherwise have had to be utilised to return my father, while it gave my dad an extension of his independence that he simply would not have been able to enjoy without it.”
He continued: “I now want to provide others with the same options I had with my father and to enlighten people of the various possibilities the tracker device has. People working in remote areas, hill-walkers, children and, of course, the elderly are just some of its possibilities.”
Mr Bain, 52, is now in touch with the London firm which sells the trackers. For more information, contact Mr Bain at comms@ceuro.uk.com
Last night a spokeswoman for Alzheimer’s Scotland said it saw the merits of a GPS system but said it would only be beneficial within a wider framework of support.