Imagine this: your loved one with dementia steps outside for what should be a short stroll. But within moments, they’ve wandered further than intended, unable to find their way back. It’s a caregiver’s worst fear—yet it’s an all-too-common scenario for families managing dementia care. This is where geofencing becomes a lifesaving tool.
Geofencing uses GPS technology to create virtual boundaries, allowing caregivers to monitor a loved one’s movements in real-time. If they stray beyond a designated safe zone, an immediate alert is sent, enabling fast action before the situation escalates. This innovative solution not only enhances safety but also offers families invaluable peace of mind, ensuring they’re always connected and in control.
In this article, we’ll explore how geofencing works, why it’s vital for dementia care, and how it empowers families to strike the perfect balance between independence and security.
What Is Geofencing and How Does It Work?
Geofencing is a cutting-edge feature that uses GPS technology to create a virtual boundary, or “fence,” around a specific area. Imagine being able to set a digital perimeter around your home, garden, or neighbourhood. If your loved one with dementia crosses that boundary, an alert is instantly sent to your phone or app, giving you the chance to respond immediately.
The technology behind geofencing is straightforward yet powerful. A GPS device, such as our Perfect Alert Dementia Tracker watch, continuously communicates its location using satellite signals. When you set up a geofence through the caregiver’s app, the watch compares its real-time position to the boundaries you’ve defined. If the wearer steps outside the safe zone, the system detects the breach and triggers a notification.
This seamless process means you don’t have to worry about constant supervision and helps retain important freedoms for your relative. Geofencing provides an early warning system, enabling you to act quickly and bring your loved one back to safety. It’s a modern solution designed to address one of the biggest challenges in dementia care—wandering—while offering peace of mind to families.
Why Is Geofencing Important for Dementia Patients?
Wandering is one of the most challenging behaviours associated with dementia, and it’s more common than many realise. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 60% of dementia sufferers will wander at least once, often placing themselves in potentially dangerous situations. From stepping into busy traffic to getting lost in unfamiliar areas, the risks are significant and can lead to severe outcomes if not addressed promptly. Read more about why dementia sufferers are prone to wandering (this link opens a new tab so you won’t lose this page).
This is where geofencing becomes a critical tool for ensuring safety. By creating a virtual safety net, geofencing allows caregivers to define safe zones, such as the home, garden, or nearby park. If the dementia patient crosses these boundaries, an immediate alert is sent to the caregiver’s phone, enabling swift intervention before the situation escalates.
The ability to act early significantly reduces the time, stress, and anxiety associated with locating a loved one who has wandered. Geofencing empowers families to prevent dangerous incidents while offering peace of mind, knowing their loved one is being monitored even when they can’t be physically present. It’s a modern solution to an age-old problem, giving caregivers the tools to manage wandering effectively while maintaining their loved one’s dignity and independence.
How Geofencing Features Work on GPS Watches
Geofencing on a GPS watch like Perfect Alert is a powerful tool that brings safety and convenience together, ensuring that dementia patients are always monitored within a defined safe area. Here’s how it works:
- Setting Up Geofences: Using the free caregiver’s app, you can easily define a virtual boundary or “safe zone.” This could be as small as your garden or as large as a neighbourhood area. The setup is intuitive, allowing you to customise the size and shape of the geofence to fit the individual’s lifestyle and needs.
- Customising Safe Zones: The flexibility of geofencing means you can tailor boundaries to reflect familiar and frequently visited areas. For example, you might create a safe zone around the home during the day and expand it to include the local park during walks or outings.
- Receiving Alerts: Once the geofence is in place, the GPS watch continuously monitors the wearer’s location in real time. If the individual steps outside the designated boundary, the app instantly sends an alert to your phone, ensuring you can respond quickly before the situation escalates.
The benefits of real-time notifications are invaluable. They provide caregivers with immediate updates, reducing response time and offering reassurance that their loved one is safe. Combined with the GPS watch’s lockable strap and continuous tracking, geofencing ensures the patient’s safety while giving families the confidence that help is just a notification away.
Advantages of Geofencing Over Traditional Safety Measures
Geofencing offers a modern, proactive approach to dementia care that surpasses many traditional safety measures. While options like physical locks, door alarms, or constant caregiver supervision have their place, they often fall short in terms of flexibility and effectiveness.
1. Proactive Safety:
Traditional safety measures, such as door alarms, only alert you after the person has already wandered out of the house, leaving you scrambling to respond. Geofencing, on the other hand, detects when the individual crosses a virtual boundary and alerts you instantly, enabling early intervention. This proactive approach helps prevent potential accidents before they occur.
2. Peace of Mind:
Constantly supervising a loved one with dementia can be exhausting and emotionally draining. Geofencing allows caregivers to step away momentarily, secure in the knowledge that they will be notified if their loved one moves beyond a safe zone. This enables caregivers to focus on other tasks or even take much-needed breaks without sacrificing safety.
3. Flexibility:
Unlike traditional measures that are often limited to a single location, geofencing is adaptable to virtually any environment. Whether at home, on holiday, or in a public space, geofencing provides consistent, reliable monitoring. This flexibility ensures your loved one is always protected, regardless of where they are.
By integrating geofencing into a GPS watch with a lockable strap, caregivers gain an added layer of protection that keeps their loved ones safe while reducing the stress and burden of constant vigilance. It’s a smarter, more comprehensive approach to safeguarding those with dementia.
How Geofencing Can Help Maintain Independence
One of the greatest challenges in dementia care is balancing safety with the individual’s sense of independence. Geofencing provides a practical solution that ensures security while allowing dementia patients the freedom to move within a defined area. By setting safe zones using GPS technology, caregivers can monitor their loved ones without feeling the need to constantly intervene or restrict their movements.
This approach encourages mobility and independence, which are essential for the physical and emotional well-being of those with dementia. For instance, a geofence around a garden or a nearby park allows individuals to enjoy fresh air, sunshine, and a sense of autonomy while caregivers remain reassured that they’ll be alerted if their loved one steps beyond the boundary.
(Of course, you don’t have to wait until the geofence boundary is crossed to see where your loved one is. You can proactively see where they are any time you choose on the free app that comes with the watch, or even set an alert to sound if your relative hasn’t got out of the bedroom and begun moving around by a certain time of day.)
Geofencing also helps prevent the feelings of confinement or loss of autonomy that can occur with more restrictive safety measures. Instead of being limited to a single room or heavily monitored at all times, dementia patients can engage in activities and maintain a sense of normalcy, all within a safe, controlled environment.
Imagine a scenario where a loved one enjoys taking short walks in the neighbourhood but occasionally gets disoriented. With geofencing, caregivers can let them continue their routine, knowing they’ll be alerted if the individual wanders too far. This balance of freedom and security makes geofencing a powerful tool in dementia care, fostering independence while ensuring peace of mind for families.
Common Questions About Geofencing and Dementia Care
Geofencing is a transformative technology in dementia care, but it’s natural to have questions about how it works and its reliability. Here are answers to some of the most common queries:
1. Can geofencing work indoors and outdoors?
Geofencing is most effective in outdoor environments where GPS signals are strongest. While it can work indoors, performance may vary depending on the building’s structure and interference from walls or other materials. For reliable indoor tracking, devices may also leverage Wi-Fi or Bluetooth technology.
2. How reliable are geofence alerts?
Modern GPS tracking devices with geofencing features are highly reliable, offering accurate location data and prompt alerts. However, factors like signal strength, weather conditions, or temporary network disruptions can occasionally impact performance. Regularly testing and updating the device ensures optimal reliability.
3. How large or small can a geofence be?
Geofences can be tailored to fit a wide range of needs. They can be as small as a single room or as expansive as an entire neighbourhood. Caregivers can adjust the size and shape of the geofence through the app, depending on the routine and preferences of their loved one.
4. What happens if the watch loses GPS signal?
If the device temporarily loses GPS signal, it may rely on other technologies like Wi-Fi or cellular networks to estimate the wearer’s location. Most devices, including your GPS watch, are designed to reconnect to GPS as soon as the signal is restored. Caregivers will still receive alerts and notifications through the app if the connection is interrupted.
By addressing these common concerns, families can better understand and trust the capabilities of geofencing technology, making it an integral part of their dementia care plan.
Summary
Geofencing is more than just a technological feature; it’s a vital tool that bridges the gap between safety and independence in dementia care. By providing real-time alerts, proactive monitoring, and the flexibility to create safe zones tailored to individual needs, geofencing ensures that loved ones with dementia are protected without feeling overly restricted.
With our GPS tracker watch, you gain the added benefits of a lockable strap, ensuring the device stays securely in place, and advanced health monitoring features to keep track of vital metrics. It’s a comprehensive solution designed to offer peace of mind for families and a better quality of life for those living with dementia.
Explore how our GPS tracker watch can transform dementia care for your family. Click here to learn more about its features or to request a demo today! Let’s make safety simple and independence achievable.
If you’d like our technology to bring you or your elderly relative peace of mind to know that they’re being looked after 24/7, then click this link to find out more about our Perfect Alert Dementia Tracking Watch.
The UK's Most Effective Dementia Tracker Watch
- Set Safe Zones For Loved Ones
- Precise Location Tracking
- Receive SOS Alerts If Zones Are Crossed
