Oslo police will increase GPS tracking of dementia patients

DementiaDementia.Photo: pixabay.com

The police in Oslo state that dementia patients disappear from institutions weekly, and wants to increase the use of GPS tracking. So does the National Association for Public Health.

 

“The effort to find them again is demanding and in many cases, it is urgent to find these patients who have gone missing,” says Anders Lunnan Oksvold, group leader for the missing person group in the Oslo police force to NRK.

Most people we recover within a day, but far from everyone.

“Increased use of GPS tracking can save us from using a lot of resources and relatives can be saved a lot of concern,” says Oksvold.

He is supported by the Secretary-General Lisbet Rugtvedt from the National Association for Public Health. She believes the use of GPS tracking has fallen short.

“The equipment is on its way into municipalities and nursing homes, but so far very little use of the system and it’s too much up to the individual nursing homes. We must put this system in place, properly so that everyone can benefit from the technological benefits,” she says.

Rugtvedt wants to find systems that allow you to follow and find people once they have ventured too far.

GPS tracking of people was allowed in 2013. This measurement must be necessary to prevent or limit the risk of injury to the patient and it should be in the best interest of the patient.

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today