25 Mar 2017

Radio technology helps track dementia sufferers

From This Way Up, 12:35 pm on 25 March 2017

For the 50,000 people living with dementia here in New Zealand, getting disorientated or lost is a major issue.

If they're not found within 24 hours, these people can end up seriously injured or even dead. And with the number of people diagnosed with dementia predicted to triple by 2050, the issue is only going to become more acute.

Now some simple locally designed technology - previously used to track kiwis in the wild - is helping tackle the problem by finding people more quickly without tying up so many resources. 

Auckland Police Search & Rescue co-ordinator Sargeant Dene Duthie, Delanie Halton of the WanderSearch Auckland Charitable Trust and WanderSearch user Joan Lilly walk Simon Morton through the system.